Camellia reticulata - Kunming Botanical Garden - DSC02952

''Camellia reticulata'' (syn. ''C. heterophylla'')
is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the tea

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Theaceae, native to southwestern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

and

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

Provinces. It is a loosely branched shrub or small tree, which can grow up to in height. The leaves are elliptic to oblong-elliptic, long and wide. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are in diameter, or larger in some cultivars, soft-pink to deep-pink and rarely almost white, with 5–7 petals or more in some cultivars, and are produced in sub-terminal or axillary positions on the branch. The fruit is a light brown, three-segmented capsule, about in diameter that ripens in the fall This Camellia is very susceptible to cold weather and has a late blooming season; August through October in the southern hemisphere and March through May in the northern hemisphere.

Symbolism and uses

''Camellia reticulata'' is the floral emblem of Yunnan. It has a long history of cultivation, both for

tea oil Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

and for its ornamental value. In 1820, Captain Richard Rawes of the

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

''Warren Hastings'' imported the first reticulata to England, (named 'Captain Rawes'). It remained the only known reticulata cultivated in Europe for over a century. Camellias.pics: Photographic nomenclature of Camellias. Accessed 2 September 2016.
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References

reticulata Endemic flora of China Flora of Sichuan Flora of Yunnan Vulnerable plants {{Theaceae-stub