Cistus clusii
# Cistus clusii

Cistus clusii is a shrubby species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae, with white flowers, native to south west and south central Europe and north Africa. It has been wrongly called Cistus libanotis by many authors.

## Description

Cistus clusii is a much branched shrub, up to 1 m (3 ft) tall. Its leaves are narrowly linear in shape, usually 1–2.5 cm (0.4–1.0 in) long by 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) wide, with edges that are turned under (revolute), green on the upper side and densely covered with short hairs on the lower side, producing a whitish appearance. The flowers are arranged in umbel-like cymes with up to 12 individual flowers, each 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) across with five white petals and three sepals, 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long. The flower stalks (peduncles and pedicels) and the sepals are covered with long white hairs. The style is short.

## Taxonomy

Cistus clusii was first described by Michel Félix Dunal in 1824. The specific epithet clusii honours Carolus Clusius. The name Cistus libanotis has been wrongly applied to this species by many authors. A 2011 molecular phylogenetic study placed C. clusii in a clade with Cistus munbyi in the white and whitish pink clade of Cistus species, sister to all the remaining white and whitish pink flowered species.

## Phylogeny

Cistus clusii belongs to the white and whitish pink flowered clade of Cistus species.

Species-level cladogram of Cistus species. :

| Halimium spp.    PPC     Cistus crispus       Cistus asper   Cistus chinamadensis   Cistus horrens   Cistus ocreatus   Cistus osbeckiifolius   Cistus palmensis   Cistus symphytifolius     Cistus heterophyllus     Cistus albidus   Cistus creticus   Halimium spp.   WWPC       Cistus clusii   Cistus munbyi     Cistus inflatus   Cistus ladanifer   Cistus laurifolius   Cistus libanotis   Cistus monspeliensis   Cistus parviflorus   Cistus populifolius   Cistus pouzolzii   Cistus salviifolius   Cistus sintenisii | Purple Pink Clade  White Whitish Pink Clade |
| - | - |

Species-level cladogram of Cistus species, based on plastid and nuclear DNA sequences. :

## Distribution

Cistus clusii is native to north Africa and the west and central Mediterranean region: southern Spain, the Balearic Islands, south-east Italy and Sicily.

