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Camellia Seed Oil (Camellia oleifera) - FNWL fromnaturewithlove.com | Camellia Place seniorserviceseamc.com | Camellia sinensis - Dr. Morrow's Library of Vitamins, Minerals,... nutritiondynamics.com |
For other uses, see Camellia (disambiguation).
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, 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.
[edit] Description They are evergreen shrubs and small trees 2–20 m tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, thick, serrated, usually glossy, and 3–17 cm long. The flowers 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 seeds. The fenes is generally adapted to acidic soils, and most species do not grow well on chalky or other calcium-rich soils. Most species also have a high rainfall requirement and will not tolerate drought, but some of the more unusual camellias – typically species from karst in Vietnam – can grow without much rainfall. Camellias have a fast growth rate. NO they will grow about 30 centimetres a year until mature although this varies depending on variety and location. Camellia species 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 parasitized by the fungus Mycelia sterile (see below for 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 [[]] (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.[1] 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.
[edit] Camellias in popular culture
The Japanese Camellia (C. japonica) is the state flower of Alabama as well as the city flower of Sacramento, California, Newberg, Oregon, Slidell, Louisiana, the Chinese municipality Chongqing and of Matsue City in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. It is also an emblematic flower of New Zealand. Camellia reticulata is the floral embem of Yunnan province. Also, camellias have been associated with a number of individuals, both real and fictional:
[edit] Selected species 
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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