CHAP. XIX. 



TERifiSrROMIA^CE.E. CAME'LLIJ. 



391 



Spec. Char., <!yc. Leaves elliptical, serrulated, bluntly 

 acuminate. Flowers sessile, axillary, generally soli- 

 tary, and somewhat terminal, usually 4-petaled, and 

 with 3 distinct, furrowed, woolly styles, which are 

 about equal in length to the stamens. Native of 

 Nepal, at Narainhetty ; where it flowers in Sep- 

 tember, and where it is called hcngiia by the in- 

 habitants. This species is very like C. Sasunqita. 

 The flowers are white and fragrant. It is called 

 in the Newar language, kissi, or kissi-swa. The 

 leaves have a very strong, but transient, smell of tea ; but an infusion pos- 

 sesses only a very slight degree of flavour, owing, perhaps, as Mr. Gardner 

 justly observes, to the defective manner of gathering and drying them. It 

 has also been ascertained by Mr. Gardner that the Nepalese extract an 

 oil from the seed of the Kissi by pressure, which is much valued by 

 them as a medicine. (Boil's Mill., i. p. 676., adapted.) Introduced into 

 the garden of the Horticultural Society in 1823 ; but, not being a very showy, 

 species, it has not been extensively propagated. There are stools of it 

 in a cold-pit in the Vauxhall Nursery. Plants, in London, cost lOi-. 6d. 

 each, and at Bollwyller, 30 francs. 



m 6. C. olei'fera Abel. The oil-bearing Camellia. 



Identification. Abel's Chin., p. 17-1. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 577. 

 Engravings. Lodd. Bot. Cab., 1065. ; Ker. Bot. Reg., 492. 



and our Jig. 100. 



100 



Chandl. 111., t. 3. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Leaves elliptic-oblong, acute, 

 serrated, coriaceous, shining. Flowers solitary. 

 Calyxes silky, deciduous. Petals 5 — 6, 2-lobed. 

 (VoJi's Mill.,\. p. 577.) A native of Cochin-China, 

 where it is cultivated, and forms a small tree 10 ft. 

 high. This bears a close resemblance to the two 

 preceding species : the flowers are very numerous, 

 white, and fragrant. The Chinese call it " the 

 oil-bearing tea plant," as it very closely resembles 

 tea. Dr. Abel sometimes found it of the magni- 

 tude of a moderately sized cherry tree, and never 

 less than the size of a shrub 6 ft. or 8 fit. high. At 

 a distance, these plants looked as if they had been lightly clothed with 

 snow J but nearer they exhibited one immense garden of white roses. This 

 species is said to have been originally brought to the country by Lord Ma- 

 cartney; but it was afterwards lost till 1820, when it was reintroduced by 

 Captain Nisbett. It is readily distinguished from C. Sasdnqua, as it is of a 

 much more robust habit, and larger in every respect, with thicker leaves, 

 having moderately large serratures, and being sharp at the point. {Gard. 

 Mag., vol. vi. p. 290.) The Chinese extract an oil from the seed, which is 

 in very general use in the domestic economy of China. The seeds are 

 white, and ai'e reduced to a coarse powder, which is afterwards chewed or 

 boiled in bags, and then pressed, when the oil is produced. The seeds 

 of all the different species of camellia are said to be used in China for the 

 same purpose. (Abel.) 



* 7. C. EURYoi^DES LtJidl. The Eurya-like Camellia. 



Identification. ' Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 983. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 577. 



Sunonyme. Thea euryoides Booth, in Hart. Trans. 



Engravings. Lodd. Bot. Cab., 1493. ; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 983. ; and our^i^. 101. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, serrated, sulcate beneath. 

 Branches hairy. Peduncles lateral, 1 -flowered, scaly. (Don's Mill., i. p. 

 357.) Native of China, whence it was introduced, in 1824, in rather a sin- 

 gular manner. The grafted part of a camellia, brought from China, in 1 822, 

 by Mr. John Potts, having perished, the stock sent up )'oung shoots, and 



