Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are native to eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Korea and Indonesia. There are 100–250 described species, with some controversy over the exact number. The genus was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel from Brno, who worked on the Philippines. This genus is famous throughout East Asia; camellias are known as cháhuā (茶花) in Chinese, as tsubaki (椿) in Japanese, as hoa trà or hoa chè in Vietnamese and as dongbaek-kkot (동백꽃) in Korean.
The most famous member – though often not recognized as a camellia – is certainly the tea plant (C. sinensis). Among the ornamental species, the Japanese Camellia (C. japonica) (which despite its name is also found in Korea and Eastern China) is perhaps the most widely known, though most camellias grown for their flowers are cultivars or hybrids.
Via: Flickr
| Camellia | |
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| Christmas Camellia (Camellia sasanqua) is a popular plant with many uses | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Theaceae |
| Genus: | Camellia |
| Species | |
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About 100–250, see text |
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| Synonyms | |
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Thea |
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Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are native to eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Korea and Indonesia. There are 100–250 described species, with some controversy over the exact number. The genus was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel from Brno, who worked on the Philippines. This genus is famous throughout East Asia; camellias are known as cháhuā (茶花) in Chinese, as tsubaki (椿) in Japanese, as hoa trà or hoa chè in Vietnamese and as dongbaek-kkot (동백꽃) in Korean.
The most famous member – though often not recognized as a camellia – is certainly the tea plant (C. sinensis). Among the ornamental species, the Japanese Camellia (C. japonica) (which despite its name is also found in Korea and Eastern China) is perhaps the most widely known, though most camellias grown for their flowers are cultivars or hybrids.
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[edit] Description
They are evergreen shrubs and small trees up to 20 meters tall. Their leaves are alternately arranged, simple, thick, serrated, usually glossy, and usually three to 17 cm long. Their flowers are usually large and conspicuous, one to 12 cm in diameter, with five to nine petals in naturally occurring species of camellias. The colors of the flowers vary from white through pink colors to red, but yellow flowers are found in just a few species of camellias. The so-called "fruit" of camellia plants is a dry capsule, sometimes subdivided into up to five compartments, each compartment containing up to eight seeds.
The various species of camellia plants are generally well-adapted to acidic soils, and most species do not grow well on chalky soil or other calcium-rich soils. Most species of camellias also require a large amount of water, either from natural rainfall or from irrigation, and the plants will not tolerate droughts. However, some of the more unusual camellias – typically species from karst soils in Vietnam can grow without too much water.
Camellia plants usually have a rapid growth rate. Typically they will grow about 30 cm per year until mature – though this does vary depending on their variety and geographical location.
Camellia plants are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Camellia. Leaves of the Japanese Camellia (C. japonica) are suceptable to the fungal parasite Mycelia sterile (see below for the significance).
[edit] Use by humans
Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, is of major commercial importance because tea is made from its leaves. While the finest teas are produced by C. sinensis courtesy of millennia of selective breeding of this species, many other camellias can be used to produce a similar beverage. For example, in some parts of Japan, tea made from Christmas Camellia (C. sasanqua) leaves is popular.
Tea oil is a sweet seasoning and cooking oil made by pressing the seeds of the Oil-seed Camellia (C. oleifera), the Japanese Camellia (C. japonica), and to a lesser extent other species such as Crapnell's Camellia (C. crapnelliana), C. reticulata, C. sasanqua and C. sinensis. Relatively little-known outside East Asia, it is the most important cooking oil for hundreds of millions of people, particularly in southern China.
Many other camellias are grown as ornamental plants for their flowers; about 3,000 cultivars and hybrids have been selected, many with double flowers. The Japanese Camellia – often simply called "the camellia" – is the most prominent species in cultivation, with over 2,000 named cultivars. Next are C. reticulata with over 400 named cultivars, and the Christmas Camellia with over 300 named cultivars. Popular hybrids include Camellia × hiemalis|C. × hiemalis (C. japonica × C. sasanqua) and Camellia × williamsii|C. × williamsii (C. japonica × Camellia saluenensis|C. saluenensis). 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 frosts can damage the flower buds, resulting in misshaped flowers.
The camellia parasite Mycelia sterile produces a metabolite named PF1022A. This is used to produce emodepside, an anthelmintic drug.
Mainly due to habitat destruction, several camellias have become quite rare in their natural range. One of these is the aforementioned C. reticulata, grown commercially in thousands for horticulture and oil production, but rare enough in its natural range to be considered a threatened species.
 Simple-flowered Camellia × williamsii cv. 'Brigadoon' |
 Semi-double-flowered camellia cultivar |
 Double-flowered camellia cultivar |
 Double-flowered hybrid cv. 'Jury's Yellow' |
[edit] Cultural significance
- Sacramento, California is nicknamed the Camellia City;
- the Camellia is the state flower of Alabama;
- the Camellia Bowl was a post-season college football game under the auspices of the NCAA.
[edit] Selected species
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[edit] Footnotes
- Harder et al. (2005)
[edit] References
- Harder, A.; Holden–Dye, L.; Walker, R. & Wunderlich, F. (2005): Mechanisms of action of emodepside. Parasitology Research 97(Supplement 1): S1-S10. (HTML abstract)
[edit] External links
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Wikispecies has information related to: Camellia |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Camellia |