camellia

camellia

any ornamental shrub of the Asian genus Camellia, esp C. japonica, having glossy evergreen leaves and showy roselike flowers, usually white, pink or red in colour: family Theaceae

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

camellia

of Alabama. [Flower Symbolism: Golenpaul, 625]

See: Flower, State

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Camellia

 

a genus of evergreen shrubs or trees of the family Theaceae. The simple, alternate leaves are on short leaf stalks. The large, solitary flowers are white or red. There are five or more petals and many stamens. The common camellia (Camellia japonica) and its hybrid forms have single or double odorless flowers and are raised outdoors in the Caucasus and southern Crimea and indoors (often in greenhouses). The plants of this genus are propagated by cuttings and seeds. Tea is made from the young shoots of the species C. sinensis and C. assamica. The leaves of the tea oil tree (C. sasanqua), which is native to Japan and China, yield an essential oil containing 97 percent eugenol, a valuable disinfectant used in dentistry. Species are grown in the Black Sea regions of the Caucasus.

REFERENCE

Sealy, J. R. A Revision of the Genus Camellia. London, 1958.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.