Joanna, sorry I haven't replied earlier.
Georgios Hadjikyriakou in his book, 'Aromatic and Spicy Plants of Cyprus' (From antiquity to the present day), records that although the epithet
ladanifer was given to this plant
Cistus creticus is actually the main producer of labdanum.
Herodotus (484-430 BC) refers to labdanum being collected from the beards of goats. Dioscuridis (1st century AD) extols the quality of Cyprian labdanum. He records that it was collected in one of two ways; either by shepherds grazing their goats through stands of
Cistus (probably
creticus as this is indigenous to Cyprus while
ladanifer is introduced) and collecting the sticky gum from their beards and legs; or by dragging a flail made from leather straps through the bushes. In both cases the gum was boiled in water and then strained through fine cloth to remove any impurities before being made into balls.
According to Dioscuridis along with its major properties it also "arrests the loss of hair, when mixed with wine, myrrh and myrtle oil". Eighteen centuries later Mitrofanis states that "when your hair falls out be incensed with labdanum and they become firm".
I'm getting a bit thin on top so maybe I should give it a try.