Camellia

Plant Characteristics
Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names
Theaceae >	Camellia >

Read about Camellia in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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.)^CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

Do you have cultivation info on this plant? Edit this section!

Propagation

Do you have propagation info on this plant? Edit this section!

Pests and diseases

Do you have pest and disease info on this plant? Edit this section!

Species

About 100–250 species, including^wp:
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

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.^CH