The Croatian sibirea is a rare and endemic plant from the Rosaceae family. It is a relict from the tertiary period. The habitats of the plant are the mountains of Herzegovina, Čabulja and Čvrsnica, and the mountains Velebit and Velinac above Karlobag. It grows in the cracks of the calcareous rocks and the rocky, often unscalable acclivities at the height of 700 to 1200 metres above sea-Ievel. The sibirea can also be cultivated as a decorative plant in many European countries and is a well known horticultural genus, particularly in France.
It is a deciduous plant, grows as a low wide bush, from 20 to 100 cm in height, ramified in such a way as to form a thick underbrush. It has a strong root that penetrates even into the narrowest cracks in the rocks. It blossoms in June and July, with small white flowers 6-7 mm in parametre, compounded into little brooms 10 cm big.
The plant propagates by its seeds that mature at the end of September. It is polygamically dioeciously, represented only by male and bisexual bushes.
The leaves are bluish green, 5 to 9 cm long and 11 to 18 mm wide, with rounded ends. In the budding stage the shoot is formed from several reddish-brown leather like scales that adhere to each other. The branches of the bushes are covered by shallow chapped bark, reddish-brown or greyish-brown.
