Camellias

Camellias
	Tea bush ( Camellia sinensis )
Systematics
	Eudicotyledons
	Nuclear eudicotyledons
	Asterids
Order :	Heather-like (Ericales)
Family :	Tea plant family (Theaceae)
Genre :	Camellias
Scientific name
	Camellia
	flower

Camellia fraterna

Wood from Camellia japonica

The camellias ( Camellia ) are a genus of plants from the tea shrub family (Theaceae). This genus consists of around 200 to 300 species of plants , including the well-known Camellia japonica . The original name given by Carl von Linné is in honor of Father Georg Joseph Kamel (1661–1706), who brought the Camellia japonica from Manila to Spain.

description

Camellias are evergreen trees or shrubs . The alternate and spirally arranged leaves on the branches are leathery and simple. Usually a petiole is present, the leaf margin is usually serrated, rarely smooth, stipules are missing.

The hermaphrodite flowers are single or at most threes in the leaf axils. Flower stalks are medium-long or absent. There are two or more bracts , these are obsolete or permanent and difficult to distinguish from the sepals . The usually five or rarely six to ten sepals are weakly fused at their base. The usually five to eight (rarely up to twelve) petals are more or less fused at the base. The many stamens are in two to six circles. The outermost stamen circle is attached to its lower half on the petals, the stamens can be fused to form a tube, the anthers are more or less attached to the stamens at their base . The Upper constant ovary is three to fünffächrig, with one or two, rarely to ten ovules per carpel . The stylus is simple or branched or consists of ungrown stylus branches.

With the capsule fruit , the calyx remains at the fruit base, it rarely falls off. The seeds are almost round and wingless. The embryo is straight. The fleshy, semicircular cotyledons contain a lot of oil.

distribution

The genus is restricted to East Asia and spread as far as Indo Malesia . Southern China is the center of biodiversity . Camellias are not frost hardy and only survive short nights of frost

Systematics

The genus consists of 100 to 300 species. It is divided into four sub-genres and 20 sections :

Subgenus Protocamellia Hung T.Chang
Subgenus Camellia
Subgenus Metacamellia Hung T.Chang
Subgenus Thea (L.) Hung T.Chang

Of particular economic importance are:

Tea ( Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze )
Camellia japonica L.
Camellia kissi wall. : It occurs in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and China.
Camellia oleifera C. Abel : It occurs in China, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, ( Chinese 苦茶樹 , "bitter tea tree"). The exact area of origin is not known.
Camellia reticulata Lindl. : It occurs in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan.
Camellia saluenensis Stapf ex Bean : It occurs in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan.
Camellia sasanqua Thunb. : It occurs in Japan.

Other types (selection):

Camellia fraterna Hance : It occurs in the Chinese provinces of Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Zhejiang.
Camellia petelotii (Merr.) Sealy : It occurs in Vietnam and Guangxi.

use

The best-known species of the genus is the tea bush and the leaves are also used in a few other species to make tea. Some species and many hybrids are used as ornamental plants. There are a number of types that are used to produce camellia oil . There are also species with edible flowers. In the tea ceremony of Japan (wabi chan), in addition to the leaves, camellia flowers (tsubaki) are used for decoration in the tokonoma , especially during the flowering period in spring. A very popular variety is Camellia japonica ´Shiratama´, but ´Kamohonami´ is also popular.

literature

PF Stevens, S. Dressler, AL Weitzman: Theaceae. In: Klaus Kubitzki (Ed.): The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants . Volume 6: Flowering Plants, Dicotyledons: Celastrales, Oxalidales, Rosales, Cornales, Ericales . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2004, ISBN 3-540-06512-1 , pp. 463–471 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).

Individual evidence

Most of the information in this article has been taken from the sources given under references; the following sources are also cited:

↑ ^a ^b Description in the Flora of China. (engl.)

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Camellia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved October 4, 2017.

↑ Chin-Ling Wang, Jih-Zu Yu, Chiu-Tung Lu, Feng-Chyi Lin, Hsien-Tzung Shih (eds.): 作物蟲害非農藥防治資材 (“Non-pesticide measures against plant pests”) (= 農試所特刊第 142 號, “Special edition 142 for the agricultural examination ” ). Agricultural Research Institute of the Executive Yuan's Agriculture Committee - 行政院農業委員會農業試驗所, May 2010, 二、苦茶粕 ("2. Bitter Tea"), p. 64 (Chinese).

Web links

Commons : Camellia ( Camellia ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Entry in Plants for a Future. (engl.)
Description in the Flora of China. (engl.)

[FloraChina-1] Description in the Flora of China. (engl.)

[GRIN-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Camellia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved October 4, 2017.