How to Grow and Care for Cytinus

Rockrose parasite (Cytinus hypocistis) is a parasitic plant that is native to the Mediterranean, where its primary hosts are rockroses. Cytinus hypocistis is only visible above ground in spring when it flowers; the plant appears scaly and red on the outside with small yellow flowers within. These flowers are almost exclusively pollinated by ants.

A beautiful parasite, cytinus ruber (Cytinus ruber) cannot be found without the pink rock rose, the flower from whose roots it steals its nourishment. Cytinus ruber's striking white flower clusters, surrounded by reddish pink leaves, grow along the rock rose's roots, where they are pollinated by ants and beetles.