THE 



te! 



THE CAMELLIA. 



Jaktjaey, 1863. 



HE Camellia is the most generally useful of 

 all the greenhouse plants we possess, and 

 shoxild, therefore, befirst thought of in selecting 

 stock for a plant-house, and especially one that 

 is to be used for purposes of pleasure. It is 

 glory of the conservatoiy, a noble object at all 

 seasons, and unequalled for its brilliancy andgrandeur 

 when in flower. Happily it is most easily cultivated ; 

 and though specimen plants are not to be obtained with- 

 out considerable outlay, small plants are cheap, and an 

 assiduous cultivator may, in the course of a few years, 

 possess himself of a collection of handsome specimens 

 by beginning with small nursery stock, and waiting patiently 

 till they "grow into money," which they are sure to do if 

 favoured with a moderate amount of care. Botanically considered, the 

 camellia is an interesting plant, because of its relation to the true Theas, fi'om 

 which is obtained the tea of commerce — the camellia being a mem jer of 

 the natural order of Theads, otherwise classed as Ternstromiacece. There 

 are about a dozen species of camellia in cultivation ; the principal are 

 C. euryoides, a small shrub with white flowers ; Kisii, a shrub which 

 attains the proportions of a tree, and with white flowers ; maliflora, the 

 apple-flowered camellia, with pink blossoms ; oliefera, a tree with white 

 flowers, and from the seed of which the Chinese extract a table-oil; 

 reticulata, a small shrub with red flowers ; sasanqua, a small shi'ub, of 

 which there are several varieties, produciug white and red blossoms; and 

 lastly, Japonica, from which nearly all the showy varieties so highly 

 prized as decorative plants have been derived. 



Camellia Japonica was inti'oduced to this country in 1 "oO. It is a 

 native of China and Japan, where it is mostly found in damp shady w^oods. 

 In common with manj^ other plants from those countries, it is quite hardj- 

 in this country, and previous to the winter of 1860-1 there were many 



VOL. VI. — NO. I. U 



