Montpellier Rock Rose

The Montpellier Cistus is one of three rockroses found on Elba. It grows on garrigue and in dry, sunny places; it colonizes land after fires (the seeds are resistant to high temperatures) and vegetation clearance. It is a very branchy, distinctly aromatic evergreen shrub, between 30 and 100 cm tall. The leaves are rich in essential oils and therefore sticky to the touch; the inflorescences are in groups of 2-8 flowers each on peduncles placed on a common main axis (racemes). Each individual flower lasts about a day, but the plant blooms continuously, and in spring, extensive stretches of mountain slopes are painted white with these flowers. You may notice a kind of foam on the plant, which is the refuge of the spittlebug (Philaenus spumarius). On Elba, this plant is known as “mucchio”. In the past, every village had dozens of wood-fired domestic ovens where bread and fragrant flatbreads were regularly baked; “mucchio” was used as fuel to heat and flavour the ovens.