Camellia – Camellia japonica

Common Name: Camellia

Botanical Name: Camellia japonica, ka-MEEL-ee-a ja-PON-i-ca

Decorative Life: Not very long under most circumstances, 3-4 days.

Flower Color: Pink, Red, White

Availability: Spring

• Member of the Theaceae (tea) family.
• Native to Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
• Relatives include Franklinia, Ternstroemia and Stewartia.

• Waxy flowers 2-6 inches across, single and double forms, solitary on short branchlets on woody stems.
• Stems cut to various lengths or individual flowers are harvested.
• Plant is an evergreen shrub, classed as a dicotyledon, leaves not parallel veined.
• Very little if any fragrance.

45 F with high humidity.

• Named for Georg Josef Kamel, a Moravian Jesuit missionary who studied plants in the Philippines. There are over 2000 cultivars of this species.
• Camellias were brought to America in the late 18th century and soon became a fixture in southern gardens.
• Related to the tea plant, the Camellia”s flower was a garden treasure in China long before the flower was introduced to Western civilization. The Camellia is the plant from which Earl Grey and other popular teas are made.
• Camellia sasanqua blooms in the fall, Camellia sinensis is the source of commercial tea.
• Flower forms include single, semi-double, anemone, peony, rose double and formal double.

Using ‘Kumasaka’, Doi and Reid (1996) noted that STS treatment prevented flower abscission but did not delay the occurrence of necrotic brown spots on flowers.