''Camellia petelotii'' is a species of
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...
in the family
Theaceae
Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genera, depending on the sour ...
.
[POWO: ''Camellia petelotii'' (Merr.) Sealy (retrieved 24 March 2021)]
/ref> It is found in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
(endemic in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ( ...
in southern China) and Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
. It may be called the golden camellia and synonyms include ''C. chrysantha'' and ''Camellia nitidissima''. The golden camellia originated 170 million years ago, it is a first-class nationally protected plant in China. The golden camellia is extremely demanding on the growth environment, and its genes are extremely difficult to replicate, once transplanted, it will die or genetically mutate. Therefore, in 1986, the Golden Camellia National Nature Reserve was built in Fangcheng, Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
, with a total area of 9195.1 hectares.
It is threatened by habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
. It originates from southern China and Vietnam where it has been used to make tea; it has also been propagated as a garden plant for its waxy yellow flowers, which are unusual in a camellia. It is endangered in the wild, but favored as a garden plant.
Description
''Camellia petelotii'' is a shrub or small tree growing up to 5 meters in height.
Uses
According to the research and experiments of The Institute of Medicinal Plant Development (China)-Guangxi Branch and some other Chinese medicine research institutions in Guangxi, Golden camellia tea has the functions of preventing cancer, inhibiting tumor growth, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood lipids, lowering cholesterol, preventing atherosclerosis, delaying aging and other health effects as improve the body's immune.
Gallery
File:金花茶 Camellia petelotii 20221114215806 01.jpg
File:金花茶 Camellia petelotii 20221114215806 03.jpg
File:金花茶 Camellia petelotii 20221114215806 04.jpg
File:金花茶 Camellia petelotii 20221114215806 07.jpg
References
Further reading
* Sunyatsenia 7: 19 1948.
The Plant List
International Camellia Society
Global Trees Campaign
External links
*
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q13418247, from2=Q126077, from3=Q15390903
petelotii
Vulnerable plants
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot