Syrian sunrose
Helianthemum syriacum
Family · Cistaceae · Harmless
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The small rockrose with narrow rolled leaves that fills the dry limestone of the east, with yellow flowers that open in morning sun and drop by afternoon. The genus name means sun flower.
Scrubland · Uplands · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known asnarrow-leaved rockrose
How to tell it
Narrow leaves with down-rolled margins, green above and white beneath, very like rosemary's but scentless. Yellow flowers with five crumpled petals, in a terminal cluster. A low woody cushion. Range: mainly a Spanish plant, practically absent from Portugal.
What it is confused with
Rosemary-leaved rockrose
Cistus clusii
Both with rosemary-like leaves and both from the same limestone scrub. Rosemary-leaved rockrose has white flowers and is larger; this has yellow flowers and is far smaller.
Open sheet →What it is for
No direct use. Like the fumanas and tuberarias, it associates with underground fungi in the soil, and some species in the group host desert truffles.