102 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



In this country the Camellia is a green-house plant. A 

 closer association with this delightful exotic, is a sufficient 

 proof that it will do as well in the parlor, and far better in 

 a pit ; but it will not flower as early, and will withstand 

 considerable frost. In England it is frequently planted in 

 the open ground, but it would not answer in this country; 

 the cold nights in the spring are generally accompanied by 

 very warm sun through the day, which is enough to kill 

 any plant. 



It was originally imported from China and Japan, and is 

 a species of the Tea Plant. The name Camellia was given 

 in honor of G. J. Kumel, a celebrated botanical writer of the 

 Jast century, whose name in Latin was Camellus. There 

 is great symmetry in the form of the leaf, which is a beau- 

 tiful dark green, with a fine gloss, giving the plant a fine 

 appearance at all seasons. Were the leaves not so dark 

 there would be some resemblance between it and the Orange 

 Tree. The flower in some respects resembles the Rose of 

 the garden 5 hence arose the name of " Japan Rose." There 

 appears a formality in them, as if made of wax ; still their 

 hues are so blended as to defy art to imitate them. 



On its first introduction the colors were limited, but the 

 skill of florists has succeeded in hybridizing them so as to 

 produce hues innumerable. This has made the plant in- 

 dispensable in all green-houses, not only as a valuable ac- 

 quisition for the appearance of their flowers, but as an arti- 

 cle of profit, by cutting their flowers in the early spring. 



This delightful evergreen is cultivated to greater extent 

 in some parts of Europe than England ; for I perceive, by 

 a catalogue issued by Mr. McKay, at Leige, that he has 

 two hundred and ninety-four varieties in his collection, being 



