Yellow rockrose
Halimium halimifolium
Family · Cistaceae · Harmless
The yellow cousin of the rockroses, typical of coastal sands and the pine woods of Doñana and the Alentejo. Golden flowers with a dark blotch at each petal base, over silvery foliage.
Where it grows
Dunes and sand · Pine woods · Scrubland
Also known ashalimium
In flower
How to tell it
Narrow leaves covered in silvery hairs, giving the plant a grey tone visible from afar. Yellow five-petalled flowers, almost always with a dark basal blotch. Sand or very sandy soil.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
Sand stabilisation and wildlife shelter in coastal pine woods. No relevant food or medicinal use.