Cistus crispus is a shrubby species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae, with pink to purple flowers, native to south-western Europe and western north Africa.
Cistus crispus grows up to 50abbr=onNaNabbr=on tall. Its grey-green leaves are wavy (undulate), oblong to elliptical in shape, usually 1– long by 4– wide. They have three prominent veins and are covered a mixture of short stellate hairs and longer simple hairs. The flowers are arranged in few-flowered cymes, each flower being 3– across with five purplish-red petals and five hair-covered sepals.
Cistus crispus was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum (p. 524). The specific epithet crispus means "curly" or "finely waved", referring to the leaves.
It hybridizes with Cistus albidus to form the hybrid Cistus × incanus.
A 2011 molecular phylogenetic study placed C. crispus as the deepest branching member of the clade of purple and pink flowered Cistus species (the "purple pink clade" or PPC).
Cistus crispus is native to north Africa and south-western Europe, including Portugal, Spain, France, Corsica, Italy and Sicily.