Common Gum Rockrose               SIS-tis la-DAH-ni-fer

• Evergreen shrub, 3-5 ft (0.9-1.5 m) high, young branches sticky. Leaves opposite, simple, sticky, linear-lanceolate, nearly sessile, 4-8 cm long, glabrous above, gray pubescent below. Flowers singular, on short branches, large, 7-10 cm wide, white with a red-brown spot at the base of each the 5 petals, 3 sepals.
• Sun, needs good drainage, somewhat drought tolerant.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 8      Native to southwest Europe and north Africa.
• cistus: Greek name for evergreen shrub; ladanifer: bearing ladanum, a gum resin used in perfumery
• Oregon State Univ. campus: east of Benton