Camellia - Revision history

Raffi at 15:31, 25 May 2009

2009-05-25T15:31:35Z

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Silparaja at 16:35, 22 May 2009

2009-05-22T16:35:01Z

Silparaja at 16:32, 22 May 2009

2009-05-22T16:32:56Z

Envoy at 09:17, 25 November 2007

2007-11-25T09:17:55Z

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{{alternateuses}}
{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Camellia'' bush
| image = Camellia japonica natural.jpg
| image_width = 280px
| image_caption = ''Camellia japonica''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Ericales]]
| familia = [[Theaceae]]
| genus = '''''Camellia'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
About 100–250 species, including: 
''[[Camellia assimilis]]'' 
''[[Camellia azalea]]'' 
''[[Camellia brevistyla]]'' 
''[[Camellia caudata]]'' 
''[[Camellia chekiangoleosa]]'' 
''[[Camellia chrysantha]]'' – Golden Camellia 
''[[Camellia connata]]'' 
''[[Camellia crapnelliana]]'' 
''[[Camellia cuspidata]]'' 
''[[Camellia euphlebia]]''
''[[Camellia euryoides]]'' 
''[[Camellia forrestii]]'' 
''[[Camellia fraterna]]'' 
''[[Camellia furfuracea]]'' 
''[[Camellia granthamiana]]'' 
''[[Camellia grijsii]]'' 
''[[Camellia hongkongensis]]'' - Hong Kong Camellia 
''[[Camellia irrawadiensis]]'' 
''[[Camellia japonica]]'' – Japanese Camellia 
''[[Camellia kissii]]'' 
''[[Camellia lutchuensis]]'' 
''[[Camellia miyagii]]'' 
''[[Camellia nitidissima]]'' - ''Camellia chrysantha'', Yellow Camellia
''[[Camellia nokoensis]]'' 
''[[Camellia oleifera]]'' - Tea Oil Camellia, Oil-seed Camellia 
''[[Camellia parviflora]]'' 
''[[Camellia pitardii]]'' 
''[[Camellia polyodonta]]'' 
''[[Camellia reticulata]]'' 
''[[Camellia rosiflora]]'' 
''[[Camellia rusticana]]'' – Snow Camellia 
''[[Camellia salicifolia]]'' 
''[[Camellia saluenensis]]'' 
''[[Camellia sasanqua]]'' – Christmas Camellia 
''[[Camellia semiserrata]]'' 
''[[Camellia sinensis]]'' – Tea 
''[[Camellia taliensis]]'' 
''[[Camellia transnokoensis]]'' 
''[[Camellia tsaii]]'' 
''[[Camellia vietnamensis]]'' 
''[[Camellia yunnanensis]]''
}}

'''''Camellia''''' ({{zh-cp|c=茶花|p=Cháhuā}}) is a [[genus]] of [[flowering plant]]s in the family [[Theaceae]], native to eastern and southern [[Asia]] from the [[Himalaya]] east to [[Japan]] and [[Indonesia]]. There are 100–250 existent species, with some controversy over the exact number. The genus was named by [[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] after [[Jesuit]] botanist [[Georg Joseph Kamel]].

[[Image:Teestrauch Detail.jpg|left|thumb|Leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', also known as the [[tea plant]]]]
They are [[evergreen]] [[shrub]]s and small [[tree]]s 2–20 m tall. The [[leaf|leaves]] are alternately arranged, simple, thick, serrated, usually glossy, and 3–17 cm long. The [[flower]]s are large and conspicuous, 1–12 cm diameter, with (in natural conditions) 5–9 petals; colour varies from white to pink and red, and yellow in a few species. The [[fruit]] is a dry capsule, sometimes subdivided into up to 5 compartments, each compartment containing up to 8 [[seed]]s.

The genus is generally adapted to [[acid]]ic [[soil]]s, and does not grow well on [[chalk]] or other [[calcium]]-rich soils. Most species also have a high [[rain]]fall requirement and will not tolerate [[drought]]. Some Camellias have been known to grow without much rainfall.

''Camellia'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of a number of ''[[Lepidoptera]]'' species. See [[List of Lepidoptera which feed on Camellia]].

==Cultivation and uses==
''[[Camellia sinensis]]'' is of major commercial importance because [[tea]] is made from its leaves. [[Tea oil]] is a sweet seasoning and cooking oil made by pressing the seeds of ''Camellia sinensis'' or ''[[Camellia oleifera]]''.

Many other camellias are grown as ornamental plants for their flowers; about 3,000 [[cultivar]]s and [[hybrid]]s have been selected, many with [[double flowers]]. ''[[Camellia japonica]]'' (often simply called '''Camellia''') is the most prominent species in cultivation, with over 2,000 named cultivars; next are ''[[Camellia reticulata|C. reticulata]]'', with over 400 named cultivars, and ''[[Camellia sasanqua|C. sasanqua]]'', with over 300 named cultivars. Popular hybrids include ''[[Camellia hiemalis|C. × hiemalis]]'' (''C. japonica'' × ''C. sasanqua'') and ''[[Camellia williamsii|C. × williamsii]]'' (''C. japonica'' × ''[[Camellia salouenensis|C. salouenensis]]''). They are highly valued in Japan and elsewhere for their very early flowering, often among the first flowers to appear in the late winter. Late [[frost]]s can damage the flowers.

PF1022A, a [[metabolite]] of Mycelia sterile, a [[fungus]] that inhabits the leaves of ''Camellia japonica'' is chemically altered to synthesise [[emodepside]], an [[anthelmintic]] [[drug]].

Camellias have a slow growth rate. Typically they will grow about 30 centimetres a year until mature although this varies depending on variety and location.

<gallery>
Image:Double-flowered Camellia.jpg|Double flowered Camellia
Image:Cameliasasanqua 6637.JPG|''Camellia sasanqua''
Image:Camellia_japonica.jpg|''Camellia japonica'' 'Pink Perfection'
</gallery>
<gallery>
Image:Camellia1.JPG|Double flowered Camellia
Image:Camellia2.JPG|Double flowered Camellia
Image:Camellia japonica SZ82.jpg|19th century illustration
</gallery>
{{Commons|Camellia}}

==As a favourite flower==
===Places===
''[[Camellia japonica]]'' is the [[List of U.S. state flowers|state flower]] of [[Alabama]] as well as the city flower of [[Slidell, Louisiana]], the [[Municipality of China|Chinese municipality]] [[Chongqing]] and of [[Matsue|Matsue City]] in [[Shimane|Shimane Prefecture]], [[Japan|Japan]].

===People===
* [[Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon|Elizabeth, the Queen Mother]] grew Camellia in all of her gardens. As her body was taken from [[Royal Lodge]], [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] to lie in state at [[Westminster Hall]] of the [[Palace of Westminster]], a Camellia from her gardens was placed on top of the flag-draped coffin.
* [[Ralph Peer]], the music industry pioneer often credited as the father of [[country music]], was a president of the [[American Camellia Society]].
* [[Coco Chanel]] was very well known for wearing a white Camellia.
* The heroine of the novel ''[[The Lady of the Camellias]]'' always wears a camellia as her symbol. She was based on the real-life French courtesan [[Marie Duplessis]].

==External links==
* [http://camellia-ics.org/ The International Camellia Society]
* [http://www.camellias-acs.org/ The American Camellia Society]
* [http://www.southeasterncamellias.com/ The Southeastern Camellia Society]

[[Category:Theaceae]]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Evergreen trees or shrubs with alternate short-petioled serrate lvs. and large terminal or axillary white or red fls. followed by subglobose woody caps.: fls. sessile, upright; sepals many, imbricate, deciduous; petals 5 or more; stamens numerous, more or less connate; ovary 3-5-celled, with slender styles connate, at least below: fr. a dehiscent caps.,with few large subglobose seeds.—About 10 species in tropical and subtropical Asia. Often united with Thea, which differs in its nodding and stalked fls. with a persistent calyx consisting of 5 nearly equal sepals. There is a monograph of this genus by Seemann in Trans. Linn. Soc. 22:337-352 (1859) and by Kochs in Engler Bot. Jahrb. 27:577-634 (1900). Illustrated monographs of the horticultural varieties are: Curtis, Monogr. of the genus Camellia (1819); Baumann. Bollweiler Camelliensammlung (1828); Chandler, Camellieae (1831); Berlese, Monogr. du genre Camellia a (1839); Verschaffelt, Nouvelle Monographie du Camellia (1848-1860): the last with 576 and the previous one with 300 colored plates.
 Camellias grow like natives on sandy lands and even on high pine land in central Florida, but they flower best in half-shady somewhat moist places. The half-double varieties of Camellia japonica do best, while the very double kinds often drop their buds entirely. The flowers suffer very much from the sun and cannot be grown much farther south than central Florida. Camellia Sasanqua, single, half-double and double kinds, grow much more satisfactorily than the varieties of C. japonica. They begin to flower late in October and early November, and the double white C. Sasanqua is a mass of pure white usually at Christmas time. All the varieties of C. Sasanqua have somewhat fragrant flowers. C. reticulata does equally well in Florida. It ia very distinct in foliage from the two former species which have glossy leaves, while the leaves of C. reticulata are dull green. All the camellias are extremely slow growers if not carefully cultivated and fertilized. A mulch of old cow-manure, now and then a little commercial fertilizer, and thorough watering during the dry season several times a week start the bushes into a vigorous and healthy growth. They are so extremely beautiful when in flower that all the care given them is well repaid. (H. Nehrling.)
+C. axillaris, Roxbg.―Gordonia anomala.—C. cuspidata, Hort.=Thea cuspidata.—C. drupifera. Lour. Shrub, to 8 ft.: lvs. elliptic, long-acuminate: fls. 1½ in- wide, fragrant, white, petals obovate. Himalayas, India. L.B.C. 19:1815.—C. euryoides, Lindl. =Thea euryoides.—C. euryoides, Hort.=Thea maliflora.—C. hongkongensis. Seem. (Thea hongkongensis, Pierre). Tree with glabrous branches: lvs. ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, indistinctly serrate, lustrous above, coriaceous, 3—4 in. long: fls. red, 2 in. across; petals slightly emarginate; ovary pubescent. Hongkong. Trans. Linn, Soc. 22:60.—C. maliflora, Lindl. =Thea maliflora. — C. rosiflora, Hook.=Thea maliflora.—C. sinensis, Kuntze=Thea sinensis.—C. spectabilis, Champ.=Tutcheria spectabilis.—C. Thea, Link=Thea sinensis. Alfred Rehder.
 }}
 {{alternateuses}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:32, 22 May 2009
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		+	{{Inc\|
		+	Camellia (after George Joseph Kamel or Camellus, a Moravian Jesuit, who travelea in Asia in the seventeenth century). Ternstroemiaceae. Camellia. Woody plants, chiefly grown for their showy white or red flowers and also for their handsome evergreen foliage.
		+	Evergreen trees or shrubs with alternate short-petioled serrate lvs. and large terminal or axillary white or red fls. followed by subglobose woody caps.: fls. sessile, upright; sepals many, imbricate, deciduous; petals 5 or more; stamens numerous, more or less connate; ovary 3-5-celled, with slender styles connate, at least below: fr. a dehiscent caps.,with few large subglobose seeds.—About 10 species in tropical and subtropical Asia. Often united with Thea, which differs in its nodding and stalked fls. with a persistent calyx consisting of 5 nearly equal sepals. There is a monograph of this genus by Seemann in Trans. Linn. Soc. 22:337-352 (1859) and by Kochs in Engler Bot. Jahrb. 27:577-634 (1900). Illustrated monographs of the horticultural varieties are: Curtis, Monogr. of the genus Camellia (1819); Baumann. Bollweiler Camelliensammlung (1828); Chandler, Camellieae (1831); Berlese, Monogr. du genre Camellia a (1839); Verschaffelt, Nouvelle Monographie du Camellia (1848-1860): the last with 576 and the previous one with 300 colored plates.
		+	Camellias grow like natives on sandy lands and even on high pine land in central Florida, but they flower best in half-shady somewhat moist places. The half-double varieties of Camellia japonica do best, while the very double kinds often drop their buds entirely. The flowers suffer very much from the sun and cannot be grown much farther south than central Florida. Camellia Sasanqua, single, half-double and double kinds, grow much more satisfactorily than the varieties of C. japonica. They begin to flower late in October and early November, and the double white C. Sasanqua is a mass of pure white usually at Christmas time. All the varieties of C. Sasanqua have somewhat fragrant flowers. C. reticulata does equally well in Florida. It ia very distinct in foliage from the two former species which have glossy leaves, while the leaves of C. reticulata are dull green. All the camellias are extremely slow growers if not carefully cultivated and fertilized. A mulch of old cow-manure, now and then a little commercial fertilizer, and thorough watering during the dry season several times a week start the bushes into a vigorous and healthy growth. They are so extremely beautiful when in flower that all the care given them is well repaid. (H. Nehrling.)
		+
		+	}}
	{{alternateuses}}		{{alternateuses}}
	{{Taxobox		{{Taxobox