Photo of a herbarium specimen of a woody shoot with oval leaves and small fruit with persistent dried sepals. The label shows the specimen was collected in Guyana on 16 Jun 2012 by K. Wurdack et al.

Pakaraimaea dipterocarpacea is an enigmatic tree Cistaceae from the Guianan Highlands. It was formerly placed in the Dipterocarpaceae. It lacks dimorphic sepals. I couldn’t find photos of it alive, but here’s a specimen, courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪

Photo of a leafy shoot with a single, 5-petaled yellow flower. White sand is visible below the plant. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

The genus Crocanthemum has an unusual disjunct distribution: much of North America (incl. some of C. America & the Antilles) and southern South America. Here's C. corymbosum as encountered in the sand pine scrub along the Atlantic Coastal Ridge in S. Florida. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo showing the side view of a white flower with crumpled petals and a mass of yellow stamens.

Stamens of some Cistaceae are sensitive & flex outward when touched. I’d love to see that! Does anyone have a video? This photo by Sarah Gregg CCBYNCSA2 shows the glorious stamens of Helianthemum apenninum. I don’t know if this sp. has sensitive stamens. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a shrub with large white flowers. The leaves are elongate, bullate, and highly revolute.

The flowers of Cistus monspeliensis (📷: Amadej Trnkoczy CCBYNCSA2) are large & showy. The leaves are strongly revolute (margins curl downward), a feature common in plants from dry habitats. This species is from the maquis & matorral shrublands of the Mediterranean. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

#Cistaceae

Photo of a shrub with large, 5-petaled, white flowers. Each of the five petals has a dark, red spot at its base.

Yesterday I forgot to post the flowers of Cistus ladanifer, which are fabulous. I love the crumpled petals with their basal spots. The flowers attract bees, beetles & flies, & they must be cross-pollinated to produce seeds. They can’t self. (📷: mxtivoli CCBYNC4) #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a shrub with shiny, elliptical leaves. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Cistus ladanifer, from the western Mediterranean region, has shiny, sticky, resin-coated leaves. The resin contributes to the characteristic aroma of the garrigue and maquis shrublands. The resin, called labdanum, is used in perfumery. #perfume #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a leafy shoot and cymose inflorescences with buds and four large pink flowers with crumpled petals. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Cistaceae often have petals crumpled in bud, & Cistus has large, attractive flowers that show the characteristic brilliantly. This is Cistus × incanus, a natural hybrid of C. albidus × C. crispus, native to the western Mediterranean region. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a prostrate woody plant with very small, fine foliage. Capsules are present. White sand is visible in the background. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Cistaceae are shrubby plants, often in dry, sunny areas on sandy or chalky soils. I first met Cistaceae in the form of Lechea spp. on the white sand of the Florida Scrub. This is L. minor in fruit. The capsules have parietal placentation, a characteristic of the family. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo showing the frontal view of an actinomorphic, yellow flower with five petals, many stamens and a gynoecium with a superior ovary.

Cose-up photo of the back of the flower, showing dimorphic sepals: two sepals are small, three are large.

I don’t see the family very often, but I always enjoy seeing Cistaceae. This week, let's look at the family. They often have dimorphic sepals: 2, small, outer sepals & 3 larger ones. This Fumana ericoides (📷: Sonja Bouwman-Gringhuis CCBYNC4) shows the sepals brilliantly. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a shrub with leaves glossy with resin. A single white flower occupies the center of the photo. Each of the five petals has a dark red spot near its base. There are many yellow stamens in the center.

We see resin as an antitranspirant (& defense) in Cistus ladanifer (📷: David Seibold CCBYNC2) of the Mediterranean region. Its resin (“Labdanum”) is fragrant and much valued in perfumery, as both a fragrance & fixative & was once a substitute for ambergris. #Cistaceae #resin #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

We're organising a field trip to 1member+guest🌸, to Aljezur, to see several #Cistus , in particular the new taxa #Cistusxaljezurensis and also a restored sobreiral/carvalhal from Eucaliptus crop.

To more details see:
forms.gle/ALB2Xn7ZqfgU...

Join us!🍀
#Taxonomy #Cistaceae #HabitatRestoration

Cistaceae strong in Indiana. I luv the Lechea species but was equally excited when we found Crocanthemum bicknellii.
Here in a remnant sand savanna we had Lechea pulchella, L. minor, & Crocanthemum bicknellii growing together.

#prairies #nativeplants #cistaceae #plants #botany #indiananature