|
CAMELLIA , a genus or subgenus of See also: evergreen trees or shrubs belonging to the natural See also: order Ternstroemiaceae, with thick dark shining leaves and handsome See also: white or
See also: rose-coloured See also: flowers
.
The name Camellia was given by See also: Linnaeus in honour of See also: George See also: Joseph Camellus or Kamel, a Moravian Jesuit who travelled in See also: Asia and wrote an account of the See also: plants of the Philippine See also: Island, Luzon, which is included in the third See also: volume of See also: John Ray's Historia Plantarum (1704)
.
See also: Modern botanists are agreed that the See also: tea-plant, placed by Linnaeus in a See also: separate genus, Thea, is too nearly allied to Camellia to admit of the two being regarded as distinct genera
.
Thea and Camellia are therefore now considered to represent one genus, which has been generally called Camellia, but more correctly Thea, as this name was the earlier of the two
.
Under the latter view Camellia is regarded as a subgenus or section of Thea
.
It contains about eight See also: species, natives of See also: India, See also: China and See also: Japan
.
Most of the numerous cultivated forms are horticultural products of C. japonica, a native of China and Japan, which was introduced into See also: Europe by See also: Lord Petre in 1739
.
The See also: wild plant has red flowers, recalling those of the wild rose, but most of the cultivated forms are See also: 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 See also: 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 and as known in cultivation semi-double or double
.
Both C. sasanqua and C. drupifera, the for:ner inhabiting Japan and China, the latter See also: Cochin-China and the mountains of India, are oil-yielding plants
.
The oil of C. sasanqua (of which sasaukwa is the native See also: Japanese name) has an agreeable odour and is used for many domestic purposes
.
It is obtained from the seeds by subjecting them to pressure sufficient to reduce them to a coarse powder, and then boiling and again pressing the crushed material . The leaves are also used in theSee also: form of a decoction by the Japanese See also: women for washing their hair; and in a dried See also: state they are mixed with tea on account of their pleasant flavour
.
The oil of C. drupifera, 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 See also: hardy in the See also: south of See also: England and the south-west of Scotland and See also: Ireland
.
They grow best in a See also: rich compost of sandy peat and loam, and should not be allowed to get too dry at the roots; a liberal supply of See also: water is especially necessary during the flowering See also: period
.
The best position—when grown out of doors—is one facing See also: north or north-west, with a See also: wall or hedge behind for See also: protection from cold winds
.
See also: July is the best See also: time for planting; care must be taken that the roots are evenly spread, not matted into a See also: ball
.
The plants are propagated by layers or cuttings, and the single-flowered ones also by seeds
.
Cuttings are taken in See also: August and placed in sandy peat or loam in a cold shaded See also: frame
.
In the following spring those which have struck are placed in a gentle heat, and in See also: September or See also: October the rooted plants are potted off
.
Camellias are also propagated by grafting or inarching in early spring on See also: stocks of the See also: common variety of C. japonica
.
The See also: scale See also: insect sometimes attacks the camellia
.
To remove
the white scale, the plants are washed with a sponge and solution of soft See also: soap as soon as their growth is completed, and again before the buds begin to swell
.
The See also: brown scale may be got rid of by repeated washings with one of the many insecticides, but it should be applied at a temperature of 900
.
|
|
|
[back] 1ST BARON THOMAS PITT CAMELFORD (1737_1793) |
[next] CAMEO |
There are no comments yet for this article.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are encouraged.