What do you know about camellias?

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What do you know about camellias?
Camellia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, native to eastern and southern Asia from the Himalaya east to Japan and Indonesia. There is some controversy over the number of existent species, with anything from 100–250 species being accepted. The genus was named by Linnaeus after Fr. Georg Joseph Kamel S.J., a Jesuit botanist.


Leaves of Camellia sinensis


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Leaves of Camellia sinensis





They are evergreen shrubs and small trees from 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 subdivided into 1–5 compartments, each containing 1–8 seeds.





The genus is generally adapted to acidic soils, and does not grow well on chalk or other calcium-rich soils. Most species also have a high rainfall requirement and will not tolerate drought.





Camellia species are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera which feed on Camellia.
Reply:That there was a lady in an Alexandre Dumas' novel that really liked them.