White rock rose
Helianthemum apenninum
Family · Cistaceae · Harmless
The small rock rose with five crumpled white petals and a yellow centre, covering dry limestone slopes, its petals falling on the same day they open.
Uplands · Scrubland · Fields and pasture
Also known asApennine sun rose
How to tell it
A subshrub twenty to fifty centimetres, grey with star-shaped hairs. Narrow, opposite leaves with margins rolled under and a white underside. White flowers two to three centimetres, with a yellow patch at the petal bases and many yellow stamens in the centre. Racemes of few flowers.
What it is confused with
Common rock rose
Helianthemum nummularium
Colour decides: white with a yellow centre on this one, entirely yellow on the common one. Both are harmless and grow side by side on the same limestone.
Open sheet →What it is for
No use. It is worth it for a curiosity you can test in the field: rock rose stamens move when touched with a finger, spreading outward. It is one of the few plants that react visibly to the naked eye.