The Beautiful Yuletide Camellia
Article about Yuletide
Camellia by A. Ibu
Yuletide camellia is also called the Christmas camellia or
camellia sasanqua. The plant is a
species of Camellia native to the evergreen forests of southern coastal Japan
in Kyushu, Shikoku, through Okinawa.
They usually grow up to 900 meters altitude.
Yuletide camellia plant is an evergreen shrub which can grow to reach 5
meters tall. The plant has a broad
elliptic shaped leaves with a finely serrated margin. The flowers have astonishing dark pink petals
with yellow center. There are also
flower petals with white color.
The cultivars of yuletide camellia began appearing at the
beginning of the Edo period in Japan.
The first of the plant cultivars was made by Ihei Ito in 18th
century. The Japanese call this cultivar
‘Sazanka’.
In 1869 the Dutch traders imported some specimens of
yuletide camellia into Europe. This is
the first time the flower plant was known in western societies. The plant is also introduced to United States
and Australia.
The cultivation of the flower plant in Japan has a long
history. The reasons is more practical
than decorative purpose. People there
use the leaves to make tea. The seeds or
nuts are used to make tea seed oil, which can be used for cooking, lubrication,
lighting and making cosmetic. The calory
in tea seed oil is higher than other naturally edible oil in Japan.
Planting yuletide camellia in the garden will make the
landscape more beautiful. The plant has
a handsome glossy green foliage, with fragrant single white or dark pink
flowers produced very early in the season. The
best selected cultivars for garden include ‘Crimson King’, ‘Jean May’ and ‘Hugh
Evans’.
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