| Cistus × purpureus | |
| Hybrid: | Cistus ladanifer × Cistus creticus |
| Genus: | Cistus |
| Cultivar: | x purpureus |
Cistus × purpureus, commonly known as orchid rockrose, is one of the most commonly cultivated varieties of rockrose.
It is a small and bushy subshrub that grows 120cm to 180cm high and wide with wavy, dense, dull green leaves.[1]
The pink flowers, which appear from spring to summer, are 8cm (3 in) across that have petals with a dark blotch towards the centre. Each flower lasts a day, though a succession of flowers appear throughout the flowering season.[2]
The hybrid cultivar was first formally described in 1786 by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in the botany division of the Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières.