30 ternstr(EMIACE^e. [Camellia. 



with several (4 or 5) pendulous ovules in eaeh. Capsule hard, usually short, 

 opening loculicidally. Seeds usually solitary in each cell, ovoid, not winged, 

 without albumen. Embryo straight, with thick cotyledons and a short radicle. 

 — Trees. Leaves coriaceous. Flowers almost sessile, solitary, erect or recurved. 

 A genus limited to southern and eastern Asia. 



Flowers 2 to 3 in. diameter. Stamens glabrous. Styles usually 5. 

 Leaf- veins scarcely prominent. Bracts, sepals, and petals scarcely * 



pubescent 1. C. Hongkong ends. 



Leaf-veins reticulate, prominent. Bracts, sepals, and petals softly 



silky-hairy outside 2. C. reticulata. 



Flowers 1 to 1| in. diameter. Stamens hairy. Styles usually 3. 



Bracts and sepals veiy obtuse 3. C. assimilis. 



Bracts and sepals acute or acuminate 4. C. salicifolia. 



1. C. hongkongensis, Seem, in Linn. Trans, xxii. 342, t. 60. A tree 

 of moderate size, glabrous in all its parts. Leaves shortly stalked, evergreen, 

 oblong or lanceolate, acuminate, entire or slightly serrate, 3 to 5 in. long, 

 coriaceous and shining, the veins scarcely conspicuous. Flowers erect or 

 slightly drooping, full 2^ in. diameter, pink and inodorous; the sepals and 

 petals broadly orbicular, and very slightly silky-pubescent outside. Stamens 

 glabrous. Styles free, haiiy, as well as the ovary. Capsule glabrous. 



Only 3 trees known in Hongkong, where it was first discovered by Col. JSgre in 1849, and 

 afterwards gathered by Champion and others. Also in Cochin China, Gaudichaud, according 

 to Seemann. This was considered by Col. Champion to be the wild C. japonica, but Seemann 

 has pointed out that besides some slight differences in the shape of the leaves, it has free 

 styles and a hairy ovary, whilst in the Japanese plant the ovary is glabrous, with connate 

 styles. 



2. C. reticulata, Lindl. ; Seem, in Linn. Trans, xxii. 343. A small tree, 

 the young shoots slightly pubescent. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, acuminate, 

 entire or serrate, 3 to 5 in. long, shining above, but the veins much more 

 prominent than in the last, especially on the under side, and turning yellowish 

 in drying. Flowers near 3 in. diameter. Bracts, sepals, and petals broadly 

 rounded as in the last, but softly silky-hairy outside. Stamens glabrous. Styles 

 free in the upper part, silky as well as the ovary. Capsule softly pubescent. 

 — C. spectabilis, Champ, in Linn. Trans, xxi. Ill; Seem. Bot. Her. t. 78. 



Hongkong, Champion, Eyre. Not received wild from elsewhere, but the double variety 

 has long been introduced into our gardens from China. 



3. C. assimilis, Champ, in Linn. Trans, xxi. 112; Seem. Bot. Her. 

 t. 77. A shrub or small tree, the young branches covered with closely ap- 

 pressed hairs. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, or oblong, obtusely acuminate, about 

 2 in. long, slightly crenate, glabrous. Flowers white, about 1£ in. diameter 

 and drooping, as in the following species, but with the broadly rounded bracts, 

 sepals, and petals passing into each other of the two last. Stamens hairy, the 

 outer ones connected high up, the 5 innermost free. Styles and ovary hairy. 

 Capsule acute, glabrous. — Thea assimilis, Seem, in Linn. Trans, xxii. 349. 



Hongkong, Champion and others. Not as yet found out of the island, although it is 

 nearly allied to the Khasian C. caudata. 



4. C. salicifolia, Champ, in Linn. Trans, xxi. 112; Seem. Bot. Her. 

 t. 76. A shrub or small tree, the young branches and under side of the leaves 

 loosely covered with soft spreading hairs. Leaves lanceolate or oblong, acu- 



