OBDER 27. CAMELLIACE^E. 273 



ORDER XXVII. CAMELLIACE^ CAMELLIAS OB TEAWORTS. 



Trees or shrubs with alternate, simple, feather-veined, exstipulate leaves. Flowers 

 regular, polyandrous, hypogynous, cyanic, with sepals and petals imbricated, the 

 former often unequal in size. Stamens more or less coherent at base into one, three 

 or five sets. Anthers 2-celled. Seeds few, with little or no albumen, cotyledons 

 large. 



Genera 33, species 130. Beautiful flowering plants, 60 or TO of them natives of S. America, 4 

 of N. America, the remainder of China and K. Indies. Their properties are stimulating ami 

 slightly narcotic. The tea, so extensively used as a beverage in the civilized world is the leaf of 

 2 or 8 species of Thea. In contains a peculiar extractive matter called theine, and a stimulating, 

 essenti.il oil, which becomes narcotic in some hot climates. Thea Bohea and T. viridis are the 

 two species which yield all the varieties of Chinese teas, according to the various methods of 

 preparing the leaves. 



GFNERA. 



Calyx of many imbricated sepals. Stamens monadelphous CAMELLIA. 1 



Calyx simple. Stamens united at base into one set STITARTIA. 2 



Stamens in 5 sets, adhering to the base of the petals GORDONIA. 8 



1. CAMELLIA, L. TEA ROSE. (In honor of G. J. Kamel, a Jesuit, 

 author of some botanical works.) Sepals many, imbricated, the inner 

 ones larger ; petals sometimes adhering at base ; filaments oo, shorter 

 than the corolla, united at base ; styles united ; stigmas 3 to 5, acute. 

 Ornamental shrubs, native of China and Japan. 



C. Japonica L. JAPAN ROSE. Lvs., ovate, acuminate, acutely serrate, glabrous 

 and shining on both sides, coriaceous and firm, on short petioles ; fls. terminal and 

 mostly solitary ; petals obovate, of a firm texture ; sta. about 50, mostly changed 

 to petals in cultivation ; stig. unequally 5-cleft. A lofty tree in Japan, its native 

 country, a splendid flowering shrub with us, hardy at the South, but requiring 

 protection at the North. Fls. varying from white to red, resembling the rose, but 

 wanting its fragrance. Over 300 varieties are enumerated. 



2. STUARTIA, Catesby. (In honor of John Stuart, the Marquis 

 of Bute.) Sepals 5 (or 6), ovate or lanceolate ; petals 5 (or 6), ob- 

 ovate, crenulate ; stamens monadelphous at base ; capsule 5-celled, 5 or 

 10-seeded, seeds ascending. Shrubs with deciduous leaves and large, 

 showy, fragrant, axillary, nearly sessile flowers. 



1 S. Virgfnica Cav. Sep. ovate; sta. dark purple; sty. united into one with a 

 b-lobed stigma. Woods, middle country, Ma. to Va. A beautiful shrub, 8 to 1 2f 

 high. Lvs. elliptic-ovate, acuminate at both ends, silky -pubescent beneath, slightly 

 mucronate-serrulate, 2' long, as wide. Petals white, nearly 2' in length, slightly 

 pubescent beneath, strongly contrasted with the short, dark stamens. May. (S. 

 Malachodendron L.) 



2 S. pentagy-na L'Her. Sep. lanceolate; stam. colored like the petals, very 

 numerous ; sty. 5, distinct, as long as the stamens. "Woods along streams in high- 

 lands, Ky. (Rock Castle and Madison counties) to Ga. A handsome shrub, 10 to 

 15f high. Lvs. thick, glabrous, ovate, acuminate, acute at base, obscurely mucro- 

 nate-serrate, 3 to 4' long, \ as wide. Petals as large as in No. 1, quite silky pu- 

 bescent beneath, one of them always much the smallest, white (scarcely cream- 

 colored). Caps. 5-angled. 



3. GORDONIA, Ellis. LOBLOLLY BAY. (In honor of James Gordon, 

 a distinguished nurseryman of London.) Sepals 5, roundish, strongly 

 imbricated ; petals, 5 ; stamens 5-adelphous, one set adhering to each 

 petal at base ; styles united into one ; capsule woody, 5-celled ; seeds 

 2 or more in each cell, pendulous. Trees with large, white, axillary, 

 pedunculate flowers. 



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