Bot. Also 7 sistis. [mod.L. cistus (in Pliny cisthos), a. Gr. κίστος, κίσθος a red-flowered shrub, prob. a cistus.] A genus of handsome shrubs (N.O. Cistaceæ) known as Rock-Rose and Gum Cistus, with large spotted red or white flowers, which seldom last more than a few hours after expansion. Ladanum or Labdanum is an exudation from the leaves and branches of several species, esp. Cistus creticus and C. ladaniferus.
The Rock-Roses of Britain belong to a closely allied genus, Helianthemum, sometimes included under Cistus.
1551. Turner, Herbal, I. K v b. I haue not heard as yet any englyshe name for cistus, but … it may be called cystbushe or ciste sage.
1622. Peacham, Gentl. Exerc., I. xii. (1634), 40. Vpon the mount Ida … you shall see … Figtrees, Cedars, Sistis.
1814. Southey, Roderick, V. The crackling hearth Where heath and cistus gave their flagrant flame.
1827. T. Hamilton, Cyril Thornton (1845), 361. The whole country seemed covered with gum cistus.
1873. Hayne, in Land of Moab, 392. Here and there a gorgeous tulip was in flower, and two rock cistuses.
b. attrib. and in Comb., as cistus-flower, -shrub, etc.; cistus-rape, a Cytinaceous parasite on the roots of some species of Cistus (Lindley).
1814. Southey, Roderick, XI. Cistus shrubs … exhaled at noon Their fine balsamic odour.
1862. H. Marryat, Year in Sweden, II. 262. A breezy moor, yellow with cistus-flowers, leads to the ‘Phare.’
