cistus Bot.
(ˈsɪstəs)
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 (family 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, cistus-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. |