Cistus populifolius L. subsp. major (Dunal) Heywood
Eng.: Corbieres rock-rose. Spa.: Jarón, jara cervuna, jara macho, hojaranzo. Fre.: Ciste à feuilles de peuplier.
Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite, 0.5-2(2.5) m in height, irregular in shape, highly ramose, and intense light green, with a balsamic odour but not viscous. Branches erect, tortuous, slightly flexible, with dark blackish bark. Branchlets brown or reddish, glabrous. Leaves large, (4)5-11 × 2.5-7 cm, opposite, longly petiolate, ovate, ending in a tip and with heart-shaped base, margin not revolute, undulate, with a single main vein, but with clearly marked lateral veins on the underside; deep green on the upper side and a little lighter on the underside, glabrous on both sides. Inflorescence in corymbiform cymes, canescent, with numerous sericeous long hairs, with 2-6 pedicellate flowers. Peduncle and pedicels glabrous or sometimes with simple hairs. Flowers large, (3)4-6 cm in diameter. Sepals 5, outer 2 sepals slightly larger than 3 inner ones, all heart-shaped, with numerous short (silky) hairs; often also with simple long hairs along the margins. Petals 5, 15-28 × 13-25 mm, white. Fruit an ovoid capsule (5-7 mm), glabrescent, dehiscent in 5 valves. Seeds numerous, very small, polyhedral, with a finely rugose surface. 2n = 18.
Flowering:
April to June.
Fruiting:
May to August.
Habitat:
Thickets on mid mountains, up to about 1,500 m. Calcifuge species that grows in somewhat rainy areas and can withstand the lack of sun better than other taxa of the genus. From dry to humid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean and mesomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Western Mediterranean. In North Africa it is found only in the central-western Rif, where in certain areas it becomes very common.
Conservation status:
Common species that can become locally abundant. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.