From January to March, I see camellia blooming near my house. In the Huntington Library especially, I have seen all kinds of camellia which are remarkable. The following camellia photos were taken from my neighborhood so I would not know what species they are. Do you know there are 100–300 described camellia species and there are also around 3,000 hybrids? Each one is unique and beautiful.
一到三月在我家附近可以看到不同種盛開的茶花。特別是在亨廷頓圖書館，更是可以看到各色各樣的茶花，令人眼花撩亂。以下山茶花照片是從別人家的院子照的，所以我不知道它們是什麼品種。 您知道有記述過的山茶種類有100–300種，也有大約3,000種雜交種嗎？每一種都獨特而美麗。
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Notes
- Camellias are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are 100–300 described species. There are also around 3,000 hybrids.
- The genus was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel, who worked in the Philippines and described a species of camellia.
- Camellias are evergreen shrubs or small trees up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. Their flowers are usually large and conspicuous. The colors of the flowers vary from white through pink colors to red; truly yellow flowers are found only in South China and Vietnam. Tea varieties are always white-flowered.
- There is great variety of flower forms:
- single (flat, bowl- or cup-shaped)
- semi-double (rows of large outer petals, with the center comprising mixed petals and stamens)
- double:
- paeony form (convex mass of irregular petals and petaloid with hidden stamens)
- anemone form (one or more rows of outer petals, with mixed petaloid and stamens in the center)
- rose form (overlapping petals showing stamens in a concave center when open)
- formal double (rows of overlapping petals with hidden stamens)
- The so-called “fruit” of camellia plants is a dry capsule, sometimes subdivided in up to five compartments, each compartment containing up to eight seeds.
- Of economic importance in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, leaves of C. sinensis are processed to create the popular beverage tea.
- The ornamental C. japonica, C. sasanqua and their hybrids are the source of hundreds of garden cultivars.
- Tea oil is a sweet seasoning and cooking oil made by pressing the seeds of C. oleifera. Relatively little-known outside East Asia, it is the most important cooking oil for hundreds of millions of people, particularly in southern China.
- Camellia oil is commonly used to clean and protect the blades of cutting instruments.
- Camellia oil pressed from seeds of C. japonica, also called tsubaki oil or tsubaki-abura in Japanese, has been traditionally used in Japan for hair care. C. japonica plant is used to prepare traditional anti-inflammatory medicines.
- Camellias were cultivated in the gardens of China and Japan for centuries before they were seen in Europe. The first living camellias seen in England were in 1739.
- The camellia is the state flower of Alabama.
- The camellia was a symbol of Brazil’s abolitionist movement during the Imperial Age. It was common practice for abolitionists to plant camellias in a show of solidarity.
- 山茶花分佈在東亞和南亞，從喜馬拉雅山脈東部到日本和印尼。有記述過的物種有100–300個。大約還有3,000個雜交種。
- 林奈(Linnaeus)命名了這個屬，是在菲律賓工作的耶穌會的植物學家喬治·約瑟夫·卡梅爾（Georg Joseph Kamel）描述了一種山茶花之後。
- 山茶花是常綠灌木或不超過20公尺(66英尺)高的小樹。 它們的花通常大而顯眼。 花的顏色從白色到粉紅色到紅色不等。 黃色花朵僅在華南和越南看得到。 茶品種的花都是白花。
- 花的種類繁多:
- 單瓣花（扁平，碗形或杯形）
- 部分重瓣花（成排的大的外花瓣，中心混合了花瓣和雄蕊）
- 重瓣花
- 牡丹花狀（不規則花瓣和花瓣型隱藏雄蕊的大凸狀）
- 銀蓮花狀（一排或多排外花瓣，中間混合花瓣和雄蕊）
- 玫瑰花狀（開花時重疊花瓣的凹形中心會露出雄蕊）
- 正式的重瓣花（一排排重疊的花瓣有著隱藏的雄蕊）
- 所謂山茶花植物的“果實”是乾燥的莢膜，有時最多有五個隔間，每個隔間最多有八粒種子。
- 山茶樹的葉子經過加工後可製成受歡迎的茶飲料，在東亞，東南亞和印巴孟次大陸有重要的經濟價值。
- 觀賞用的山茶，茶梅及其雜交種是數百種花園栽培種的來源。
- 茶油是一種甜的調味料和食用油，它是壓製油茶的種子製成的。 在東亞以外相對鮮為人知，但它是成千上萬的人(尤其是中國南部地區)最重要的食用油。
- 茶花油常用來清潔和保護切削工具的刀片。
- 從日本山茶種子中榨取的山茶油，在日本稱為“椿油”，傳統上被用於護髮。山茶用來備製傳統的消炎藥。
- 在歐洲之前，中國和日本已種植山茶花幾個世紀。1739年在英國才有了第一批活的茶花。
- 山茶花是阿拉巴馬州的州花。
- 山茶花是巴西帝國時代廢奴運動的象徵。 廢奴主義者常種植山茶花來表示聲援。
References
- Wikipedia: Camellia
- Florgeous: Camellia Flower Meaning and Symbolism
- 維基百科: 山茶属
Plants Posts 植物的帖子