WINDOW GARDENING. ] 9X 



Although brought from China, it is a native of Japan, whence its name Ja- 

 ponica, and belongs to the germs of the Tea Plant, the Bohea and Virivis, 

 which supply the well-known black and green teas of commerce. 



The first plants were brought to England in 1739, but they died from being 

 treated as stove plants ; yet the idea of them was given, and it only required 

 time and perseverance to make them what they now are — the ornament of every 

 greenhouse, conservatory, and window garden. 



The commencement of the general culture of the Camellia began in 1792, 

 when the single red variety was again imported from China. The double white 

 and the variegated red were the next kinds introduced, and they were followed 

 by the Waratah, or Anemone flowered, and the fringed white, the pale black, 

 and the striped and variegated. The single white was not introduced until 

 1818. Mr. Fortune, who has traveled extensively in both China and Japan, 

 and added many valuable plants to our collections, met with specimens of 

 Camellias growing wild in the woods of Poo-to-san, some of which were tall 

 trees, being from 25 to 30 feet high. Their glossy, evergi-een foliage, and mag- 

 nificent blossoms — red, white, buff, yellow, crimson, variegated, and blotched — 

 render them one of the most beautiful features in an Oriental landscape. The 

 trees are so plentiful in Japan and China that the seeds are used in cookery and 

 medicine, and from one species an oil for anointing the hair is extracted. 



Camellia Maliflora, or the apple-flavored Camellia, has beautiful little flowers 

 resembling the apple blossoms in color and form, but are double. This species is 

 more tender than the common kind. It was not introduced into England until 

 1816. 



Camellia Sasanqua is still more tender, and has a small, single flower, like that 

 of the green tea plant. It is more densely allied to that species, and its leaves 

 are used for tea. The hybrids which have been produced from the Camellia 

 Japonica are very numerous, and every year some new varieties are added to the 

 catalogues. 



