| Japanese Camellia | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Theaceae |
| Genus: | Camellia |
| Species: | C. japonica |
| Binomial name | |
| Camellia japonica L. |
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The Japanese Camellia (Camellia japonica) is one of the best known species of camellia. Sometimes called the rose of winter,[1] it is a member of the Theaceae family or tea family. It is a flowering shrub or a small tree native to Japan, Korea and China.[2] It is the official state flower of Alabama.
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In the wild, C. japonica is found in mainland China (Shandong, east Zhejiang), Taiwan, southern Korea and southern Japan. It grows in forests, at altitudes of around 300–1,100 metres (980–3,600 ft).[3]
C. japonica is a small tree or shrub, usually 1.5–6 metres (4.9–20 ft) tall, but occasionally up to 11 metres (36 ft) tall. The youngest branches are purplish-brown, becoming grayish-brown as they age. The alternate leathery leaves are dark green on the top side, paler on the underside, usually 5–11 centimetres (2.0–4.3 in) long by 2.5–6 centimetres (1.0–2.4 in) wide with a stalk (petiole) about 5–10 millimetres (0.2–0.4 in) long. The base of the leaf is pointed (cuneate), the margins are very finely toothed (serrulate) and the tip somewhat pointed.[3]
In the wild, flowering is between January and March. The flowers appear along the branches, particularly towards the ends, and have very short stems. They occur either alone or in pairs, and are 6–10 centimetres (2.4–3.9 in) across. There are about nine greenish bracteoles and sepals. Flowers of the wild species have six or seven rose or white petals, each 3–4.5 centimetres (1.2–1.8 in) long by 1.5–2.5 centimetres (0.6–1.0 in) wide; the innermost petals are joined at the base for up to a third of their length. (Cultivated forms often have more petals.) The numerous stamens are 2.5–3.5 centimetres (1.0–1.4 in) long, the outer whorl being joined at the base for up to 2.5 centimetres (1.0 in). The three-lobed style is about 3 centimetres (1.2 in) long.[3]
The fruit consists of a globe-shaped capsule with three compartments (locules), each with one or two large brown seeds with a diameter of 1–2 centimetres (0.4–0.8 in). Fruiting occurs in September to October in the wild.[3]
C. japonica leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, such as The Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia). The Japanese white eye bird (Zosterops japonica) pollinates Camellia japonica.[4]
The genus Camellia was named after a Jesuit priest and botanist named George Kamel.[5] The specific epithet japonica was given to the species by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 because Engelbert Kaempfer was the first to give a description of the plant while in Japan.[6]
Two varieties are distinguished in the Flora of China:[3]
Camellia japonica has appeared in paintings and porcelain in China since the 11th century. Early paintings of the plant are usually of the single red flowering type. However, a single white flowering plant is shown in the scroll of the Four Magpies of the Song Dynasty.[6]
The camellia was first brought to the West in 1692 by Engelbert Kaempfer, Chief Surgeon to the Dutch East India Company. He brought details of over 30 varieties back from Asia.[7] Camellias were introduced into Europe during the 18th century and had already been cultivated in the Orient for thousands of years. Robert James of Essex, England, is thought to have brought back the first live camellia to England in 1739. On his return from Dejima, Carl Peter Thunberg made a short trip to London where he made the acquaintance of Sir Joseph Banks. Thunberg donated to Kew Botanic Gardens four specimens of Camellia japonica. One of these was supposedly given in 1780 to the botanical garden of Pillnitz Castle near Dresden in Germany where it currently measures 8.9 metres (29 feet) in height and 11 metres (36 feet) in diameter.[8]
The oldest trees of Camellia japonica in Europe can be found in Campobello (Portugal), Caserta (Italien) und Pillnitz (Germany).[9] All of them were probably planted at the end of the 18th century.
In the U.S., camellias were first sold in 1807 as greenhouse plants, but were soon distributed to be grown outdoors in the south.[5]
Camellia japonica is valued for its flowers, which can be single, semi-double flowered or double flowered.[5] There are more than 2,000 cultivars developed from C. japonica. The shade of the flowers can vary from red to pink to white; they sometimes have multi-coloured stripes or specks. Cultivars include 'Elegans' with large pink flowers which often have white streaks, 'Guilio Nuccio' with red to pinkish petals and yellow stamens, 'Mathotiana Alba' with pure white flowers, and the light crimson semi-double-flowered 'The Czar'.[10]
C. japonica 'Alba Plena' is nicknamed the “Bourbon Camellia”. Captain Connor of the East Indiaman, brought the flower to England in 1792.[11] The flowers are pure white and about 3 to 4 inches across. It blooms earlier than most cultivated camellias, in the early winter or spring, and can flower for 4 to 5 months.[12]
The zig-zag camellia or C. japonica 'Unryu' has different zig-zag branching patterns. “Unryu” means “dragon in the clouds” in Japanese; the Japanese believe it looks like a dragon climbing up to the sky. Another type of rare camellia is called the fishtail camellia or C. japonica 'Kingyo-tsubaki'. The tips of the leaves of this plant resemble a fish's tail.[13]
Normally, camellias cannot be grown in colder climates. However, breeding of camellias has produced many cultivars which are tolerant of zone 5 and zone 6 winters. Camellias can now grow in parts of New England, Pacific Northwest, even Ontario, Canada. Camellias should be planted in the shade in organic, somewhat acidic, semi-moist but well drained soil. If the soil is not well drained, it can cause the roots to rot.[14]
| Variation in the flowers of cultivars | ||||||||||||
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Some fungal and algal diseases include: Spot Disease, which gives the upper side of leaves a silver color and round spots, and can cause loss of leaves; Black Mold; Leaf Spot; Leaf Gall; Flower Blight, which causes flowers to become brown and fall; Root Rot; and Canker caused by the fungus Glomerella cingulata, which penetrates plants through wounds. Some insects and pests of C. japonica are the Fuller Rose Beetle Pantomorus cervinus, the mealybugs Planococcus citri and Pseudococcus longispinus, the weevils Otiorhyncus salcatus and Otiorhyncus ovatus, and the tea scale Fiorinia theae.
Some physiological diseases include salt injury which results from high levels of salt in soil; chlorosis which is thought to be caused lack of certain elements in the soil; bud drop which causes loss or decay of buds, and can be caused by over-watering, high temperatures, or pot-bound roots. Other diseases are oedema and sunburn. Not much is known about viral diseases in C. japonica.[15]
Camellias are seen as lucky symbols for the Chinese New Year and spring and were even used as offerings to the gods during the Chinese New Year. It is also thought that Chinese women would never wear a Camellia in their hair because it opened much later after the bud formed. This was thought to signify that she would not have a son for a long time.[6]
One of the most important plants related to Camellia japonica is the Camellia sinensis, which is the plant tea comes from. This plant is not usually grown in gardens because it has small white flowers, unlike the Camellia japonica, which has larger, more beautiful flowers. It is not seen in art as often as the Camellia japonica, but it is shown in a painting called the Song Hundred Flowers which hangs in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Camellia sinensis may have been used as medicine during the Shang Dynasty. It was first used for drinking during the Zhou Dynasty.[6]
The following is a poem written by English evangelical Protestant writer Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna:[16]
THE WHITE CAMELLIA JAPONICA
Thou beauteous child of purity and grace, What element could yield so fair a birth? Defilement bore me - my abiding place Was mid the foul clods of polluted earth. But light looked on me from a holier sphere, To draw me heavenward - then I rose and shone; And can I vainly to thine eye appear, Thou dust-born gazer? make the type thine own. From thy dark dwelling look thou forth, and see The purer beams that brings a lovelier change for thee.