× Halimiocistus wintonensis O. & E. F. Warb.

This is a hybrid raised in Messrs Hillier’s nursery at Winchester and it originated from Halimium lasianthum or ocymoides crossed with Cistus salviifolius. It is an evergreen shrub of bushy, rather spreading habit and 11⁄2 to 2 ft high. The young shoots are covered with a soft white wool as are also the leaves, both becoming a dull green later. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, pointed, tapered at the base rather prominently three-nerved, 3⁄4 to 2 in. long, scarcely stalked. Flowers 2 in. wide, the five petals white, broadly wedge-shaped, each having a crimson-maroon blotch towards the base, which gives the flower a striking zone of colour, the actual base being marked with a bright yellow, triangular patch. These successive zones of white, crimson, and yellow give the blossom a beauty as unusual as it is conspicuous. It is admirable for a sunny, rather dry spot in the rock garden or elsewhere, but has not a very strong constitution. The flowers often keep open well on in the afternoon. It is scarcely hardy enough to withstand a severe winter except in the milder counties, but survives our ordinary winters near London. It flowers in May and June.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

A sport with cream-coloured flowers was found on this hybrid at the Merrist Wood Agricultural College in 1978. It has been propagated, and named ‘Merrist Wood Cream’ (The Garden (Journ. R.H.S.), Vol. 107, pp. 416–17 (1982)).