Gum rockrose bud, capullo de jara pringosa

Description:

Cistus ladanifer is a species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae. It is a shrub growing 1-2.5 m tall and wide. The leaves are evergreen, lanceolate, 3–10 cm long and 1–2 cm broad, dark green above and paler underneath. The flowers are 5–8 cm diameter, with 5 papery white petals, usually with a red to maroon spot at the base, surrounding the yellow stamens and pistils. The whole plant is covered with the sticky exudate of fragrant resin.

Habitat:

It is a native of the western Mediterranean region. It is indigenous to Spain, Portugal and north-west Africa. Spotted in a clearing of Mediterranean forest at Parque Nacional de Monfragüe

Notes:

C. ladanifer is particularly well suited to the Continentalized Mediterranean climate, standing both long summer droughts and cold weather. It is an extremely aggressive plant which has taken over much of former farmland and grasslands in the mountain regions of central Spain. In Spanish it is known as Jara pringosa meaning "sticky shrub".