Cistaceae
Encyclopedia
The Cistaceae is a small family of plants known for its beautiful shrubs, which are profusely covered by flower
s at the time of blossom
. This family consists of about 170-200 species in eight genera, 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 subshrub
s and low shrub
s, and some are herbaceous
. They prefer dry and sunny habitats. The Cistaceae grow well on poor soil
s, and many of them are cultivated in garden
s.
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 stamen
s are numerous, of variable length and sit on a disc; filaments are free. The ovary
is superior, usually with three carpels; placentation 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 hard water-impermeable coating, weighing around 1 mg (Thanos et al., 1992; Heywood, 1993; Hutchinson, 1973; Judd et al., 2002; Mabberley, 1997).
The ability of Cistaceae to thrive in many Mediterranean habitats follows from two important ecological properties: mycorrhizal ability and fast renewal after wildfire.
Most Cistaceae have the ability to create symbiotic relationship with root fungi of genus Tuber
(Chevalier et al., 1975; Giovannetti and Fontana, 1982). In this relationship, the fungus complements the root system in its task of absorbing water and minerals from the soil, and thus allows the host plant to dwell on particularly poor soils. In addition, an interesting quality of T. melanosporum is its ability to kill all vegetation except the host plant within the reach of its mycelium, and thus to give its host some sort of "exclusiveness" for the adjacent land area (Giovannetti and Fontana, 1982).
Cistaceae have also optimally adapted to the wildfires that frequently eradicate large areas of forest. The plants cast their seeds in the soil during the growth period, but the latter don't germinate right in the next season. Their hard coating is impermeable to the water, and thus the seeds remain dormant for a long period of time. This together with their small size allows it to establish a large seed bank rather deep in the soil. Once the fire comes and kills the vegetation in the area, the seed coating softens or cracks as a result of the heating, and the surviving seeds germinate shortly after the fire. This mechanism allows the Cistaceae to produce a large number of young shoots simultaneously and at the right time, and thus to obtain an important advantage over other plants in the process of repopulating the area (Thanos et al., 1992; Ferrandis et al., 1999).
, forming a clade with two families of tropical trees, Dipterocarpaceae
and Sarcolaenaceae
. Recent phylogenetic
studies confirm the monophyly
of Cistaceae on the basis of plastid
sequences and morphological synapomorphies
.
Within the Cistaceae, eight genera are recognized, including five in the Mediterranean (Cistus
, Fumana, Halimium
, Helianthemum
, Tuberaria
) and three in the temperate regions of North America
(Crocanthemum, Hudsonia
, Lechea). These eight genera can be grouped into five major lineages within the Cistaceae:
s. Their soil requirements are modest, and their hardiness allows them to survive well even the snowy winters of Northern Europe.
Some Cistus species, mostly C. ladanifer are used to produce an aromatic resin, used in the perfume
industry.
The ability of Cistaceae to create mycorrhizal relation with truffle mushroom (Tuber) prompted several researches about using them as host plants for truffle cultivation. The small size of Cistus shrubs could prove favorable, as they take up less space than traditional hosts such as oak
(Quercus) or pine
(Pinus), and could thus lead to larger yield per field unit. Helianthemum nummularium HPUS can be extracted from the Cistus plant. Helianthemum nummularium is an active ingredient in the stress relieving homeopathic tablets called Rescue Remedy Pastilles (see Bach flower remedies
).
the gum cistus
of the Cistaceae plant family symbolized imminent death. Literally, "I shall die tomorrow."
Anthelis -- Aphananthemum -- Atlanthemum -- Crocanthemum -- Fumanopsis -- Gaura -- Helianthemon -- Hemiptelea -- Heteromeris -- Horanthes -- Horanthus -- Ladanium -- Ladanum -- Lecheoides -- Lechidium -- Ledonia -- Libanotis -- Planera -- Platonia -- Pomelina -- Psistina -- Psistus -- Rhodax -- Rhodocistus -- Stegitris -- Stephanocarpus -- Strobon -- Taeniostema -- Therocistus -- Trichasterophyllum -- Xolantha -- Xolanthes
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s at the time of blossom
Blossom
In botany, blossom is a term given to the flowers of stone fruit trees and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring...
. This family consists of about 170-200 species in eight genera, distributed primarily in the temperate areas of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Mediterranean basin, but also found in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
; a limited number of species are found in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. Most Cistaceae are subshrub
Subshrub
A subshrub or dwarf shrub is a short woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a similar term.It is distinguished from a shrub by its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or persisting...
s and low shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s, and some are herbaceous
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
. They prefer dry and sunny habitats. The Cistaceae grow well on poor soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
s, and many of them are cultivated in garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
s.
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
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
arrangement is a characteristic property of the family.
The stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s are numerous, of variable length and sit on a disc; filaments are free. The ovary
Ovary (plants)
In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals...
is superior, usually with three carpels; placentation parietal with two or more ovules on each placenta. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a capsule
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
, usually with five or ten valves (three in Helianthemum). The seeds are small, with hard water-impermeable coating, weighing around 1 mg (Thanos et al., 1992; Heywood, 1993; Hutchinson, 1973; Judd et al., 2002; Mabberley, 1997).
Ecology
Most Cistaceae have the ability to create symbiotic relationship with root fungi of genus Tuber
Tuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
(Chevalier et al., 1975; Giovannetti and Fontana, 1982). In this relationship, the fungus complements the root system in its task of absorbing water and minerals from the soil, and thus allows the host plant to dwell on particularly poor soils. In addition, an interesting quality of T. melanosporum is its ability to kill all vegetation except the host plant within the reach of its mycelium, and thus to give its host some sort of "exclusiveness" for the adjacent land area (Giovannetti and Fontana, 1982).
Cistaceae have also optimally adapted to the wildfires that frequently eradicate large areas of forest. The plants cast their seeds in the soil during the growth period, but the latter don't germinate right in the next season. Their hard coating is impermeable to the water, and thus the seeds remain dormant for a long period of time. This together with their small size allows it to establish a large seed bank rather deep in the soil. Once the fire comes and kills the vegetation in the area, the seed coating softens or cracks as a result of the heating, and the surviving seeds germinate shortly after the fire. This mechanism allows the Cistaceae to produce a large number of young shoots simultaneously and at the right time, and thus to obtain an important advantage over other plants in the process of repopulating the area (Thanos et al., 1992; Ferrandis et al., 1999).
Systematics
Molecular analyses of angiosperms have placed Cistaceae within the MalvalesMalvales
Malvales are an order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by APG II-system, it includes about 6000 species within nine families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, which are part of the eudicots....
, forming a clade with two families of tropical trees, Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus Dipterocarpus, is derived from Greek and refers to the two-winged fruit...
and Sarcolaenaceae
Sarcolaenaceae
The Sarcolaenaceae are a family of flowering plants endemic to Madagascar. The family includes 40 species of mostly evergreen trees and shrubs in ten genera....
. Recent phylogenetic
Phylogenetics
In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices...
studies confirm the monophyly
Monophyly
In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...
of Cistaceae on the basis of plastid
Plastid
Plastids are major organelles found in the cells of plants and algae. Plastids are the site of manufacture and storage of important chemical compounds used by the cell...
sequences and morphological synapomorphies
Synapomorphy
In cladistics, a synapomorphy or synapomorphic character is a trait that is shared by two or more taxa and their most recent common ancestor, whose ancestor in turn does not possess the trait. A synapomorphy is thus an apomorphy visible in multiple taxa, where the trait in question originates in...
.
Within the Cistaceae, eight genera are recognized, including five in the Mediterranean (Cistus
Cistus
Cistus is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species . They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal through to the Middle East, and also on the Canary Islands...
, Fumana, Halimium
Halimium
Halimium is a genus of 12 species of evergreen or semi-evergreen subshrubs in the family Cistaceae, closely related to Helianthemum...
, Helianthemum
Helianthemum
Helianthemum , known as rock rose, sunroses, or rushrose, is a genus of about 110 species of evergreen or semi-evergreen subshrubs in the family Cistaceae...
, Tuberaria
Tuberaria
Tuberaria is a genus of about 112 species of annual or perennial plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, native to western and southern Europe. They occur on dry, stony sites, often close to the sea....
) and three in the temperate regions of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
(Crocanthemum, Hudsonia
Hudsonia
Hudsonia is a small genus of three species of flowering plants in the family Cistaceae, native to North America.They are evergreen subshrubs growing to 20 cm tall....
, Lechea). These eight genera can be grouped into five major lineages within the Cistaceae:
- a basal clade of the genus Fumana
- the New World clade of Lechea
- the HelianthemumHelianthemumHelianthemum , known as rock rose, sunroses, or rushrose, is a genus of about 110 species of evergreen or semi-evergreen subshrubs in the family Cistaceae...
s. l. clade, consisting of the sister groups Crocanthemum and HudsoniaHudsoniaHudsonia is a small genus of three species of flowering plants in the family Cistaceae, native to North America.They are evergreen subshrubs growing to 20 cm tall....
from the New WorldNew WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, and HelianthemumHelianthemumHelianthemum , known as rock rose, sunroses, or rushrose, is a genus of about 110 species of evergreen or semi-evergreen subshrubs in the family Cistaceae...
s. s. from the Old WorldOld WorldThe Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" .... - the TuberariaTuberariaTuberaria is a genus of about 112 species of annual or perennial plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, native to western and southern Europe. They occur on dry, stony sites, often close to the sea....
clade - a cohesive complex of HalimiumHalimiumHalimium is a genus of 12 species of evergreen or semi-evergreen subshrubs in the family Cistaceae, closely related to Helianthemum...
and CistusCistusCistus is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species . They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal through to the Middle East, and also on the Canary Islands...
species
Cultivation and uses
Cistus, Halimium and Helianthemum are widely cultivated ornamental plantOrnamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
s. Their soil requirements are modest, and their hardiness allows them to survive well even the snowy winters of Northern Europe.
Some Cistus species, mostly C. ladanifer are used to produce an aromatic resin, used in the perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
industry.
The ability of Cistaceae to create mycorrhizal relation with truffle mushroom (Tuber) prompted several researches about using them as host plants for truffle cultivation. The small size of Cistus shrubs could prove favorable, as they take up less space than traditional hosts such as oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
(Quercus) or pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
(Pinus), and could thus lead to larger yield per field unit. Helianthemum nummularium HPUS can be extracted from the Cistus plant. Helianthemum nummularium is an active ingredient in the stress relieving homeopathic tablets called Rescue Remedy Pastilles (see Bach flower remedies
Bach flower remedies
Bach flower remedies are dilutions of flower material developed by Edward Bach, an English bacteriologist, pathologist and homeopath, in the 1930s. Bach believed that dew found on flower petals retain healing properties of that plant...
).
Symbolism
In the Victorian language of flowersLanguage of flowers
The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, was a Victorian-era means of communication in which various flowers and floral arrangements were used to send coded messages, allowing individuals to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken...
the gum cistus
Gum Cistus
Gum Cistus is a name applied to several members of the genus Cistus, particularly to C. ladanifer. They are small shrubs, up to 1m high native to Asia and Europe. They belong to the family Cistaceae and are commonly called Rock Roses. Many of the plants are highly aromatic and exhude a scented...
of the Cistaceae plant family symbolized imminent death. Literally, "I shall die tomorrow."
Synonymous genera
The following generic names inside Cistaceae were defined in various publications (IPNI, 2004), but their members were synonymised with the eight accepted genera by later research.Anthelis -- Aphananthemum -- Atlanthemum -- Crocanthemum -- Fumanopsis -- Gaura -- Helianthemon -- Hemiptelea -- Heteromeris -- Horanthes -- Horanthus -- Ladanium -- Ladanum -- Lecheoides -- Lechidium -- Ledonia -- Libanotis -- Planera -- Platonia -- Pomelina -- Psistina -- Psistus -- Rhodax -- Rhodocistus -- Stegitris -- Stephanocarpus -- Strobon -- Taeniostema -- Therocistus -- Trichasterophyllum -- Xolantha -- Xolanthes
External links
- Page R. G. The Cistus & Halimium Website - the bibliography contains many references to Cistaceae.
- Stevens P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (Cistaceae). Version 5, May 2004.