The Cistaceae are a small family of plants (rock-rose or rock rose family) known for their beautiful shrubs, which are profusely covered by flowers at the time of blossom. This family consists of about 170(-200) species in nine genera[2] that are not very distinct, distributed primarily in the temperate areas of Europe and the Mediterranean basin, but also found in North America; a limited number of species are found in South America. Most Cistaceae are subshrubs and low shrubs, and some are herbaceous. They prefer dry and sunny habitats. Cistaceae grow well on poor soils, and many of them are cultivated in gardens.
They often have showy yellow, pink or white flowers, which are generally short-lived. The flowers are bisexual, regular, solitary or borne in cymes; they usually have five, sometimes three, petals (Lechea). The petals are free, usually crumpled in the bud, and sometimes in the open flower (e. g. Cistus incanus). It has five sepals, the inner three of which are distinctly wider, and the outer two are narrow and sometimes regarded as bracteoles. The sepal arrangement is a characteristic property of the family.
The stamens are numerous, of variable length, and sit on a disc; filaments are free. The ovary is superior, usually with three carpels; placentation is parietal, with two or more ovules on each placenta. The fruit is a capsule, usually with five or ten valves (three in Helianthemum). The seeds are small, with a hard, water-impermeable coating, weighing around 1 mg.[3][4][5][6][7]
Recently the neotropical tree Pakaraimaea dipterocarpacea is placed here, following APG IV (2016)[8]
^Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x. hdl:10654/18083.
^Christenhusz, M. J. M. & Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–217. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1.
^Thanos, C. A., K. Georghiou, C. Kadis, C. Pantazi (1992). Cistaceae: a plant family with hard seeds. Israel Journal of Botany 41 (4-6): 251-263. (Available online: Abstract Archived 2004-12-05 at the Wayback Machine | Full text (PDF) Archived 2004-06-09 at the Wayback Machine)
^Heywood, V. H. (ed.) (1993). Flowering plants of the world, pp. 108–109. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-19-521037-9
^Hutchinson, J. (1973). The families of flowering plants: arranged according to a new system based on their probable phylogeny (3rd ed.), pp. 254–255. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN 0-19-854377-8.
^Judd W. S., C. S. Campbell, E. A. Kellogg, P. F. Stevens, M. J. Donoghue (2002). Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach, 2nd edition, pp. 409–410 (Cistaceae). Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates. ISBN 0-87893-403-0.
Jussieu, Antoine Laurent de (1789). Genera Plantarum: 294. Parisiis.
^Mabberley, D. J. (1997). The plant-book: a portable dictionary of the vascular plants (2nd ed.), p. 160. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41421-0.
^Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016), "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 161 (2): 105–20, doi:10.1111/boj.12385
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