CAMELLIA, a genus of evergreen trees or shrubs belonging to the family Theaceae, with thick, dark shining leaves and handsome white or rose-coloured flowers. It contains about eight species, natives of India, China and Japan. Most of the numerous cultivated forms are horticultural products of C. japonica, a native of China and Japan. The wild plant has red flowers, re calling those of the wild rose, but most of the cultivated forms are double. In the variety anemonaeflora nearly all the stamens have become transformed into small petaloid structures, which give the flower the appearance of a double anemone. Another species, C. reticulata, a native of Hongkong, is also prized for its handsome flowers, larger than those of C. japonica, which are of a bright rose colour. Both C. sasanqua and C. drupi f era, the for mer inhabiting Japan and China, the latter Cochin-China and the mountains of India, are oil-yielding plants. The oil of C. Sasanqua has an agreeable odour and is used for many domestic purposes. It is obtained from the seeds, the leaves in a dried state are mixed with tea on account of their pleasant flavour. The oil of C. drupi fera, which is closely allied to C. Sasanqua, is used medicinally in Cochin-China. The flowers of these two species, unlike those of C. japonica and C. reticulata, are odoriferous.
Camellias, though generally grown in the cool greenhouse, are hardy in the south of England and the south-west of Scotland and Ireland and mild districts in the United States. They grow best in a rich compost of sandy peat and loam, and a liberal supply of water is necessary.