c When you ^Buy U\(amed 
Camellias 
LOT 54 MARQUISE D’EXETER 
Authentic identification of Camellias under their horti¬ 
cultural variety names, is seldom found in catalogues of 
today. In offering MARQUISE D’EXETER as Lot 54, we are 
positive of supplying a true to name Camellia. 
If you are fortunate enough to consult Verschaffelt 
Inconographie des Camellias, Vol. 2, of 1849, a beautiful 
colored plate with full description will be found of this 
variety. It is also illustrated and described in Bdrlese 
monograph of 1843. 
Additional descriptions were often published in old 
hortiicultural books of yester-years, lauding the merits of 
this magnificent Camellia. 
On two occasions in years past, we have sold our entire 
stock of this beautiful flowering variety to one large 
wholesale florist. He grows them for the profitable crop 
of corsage flowers which finds a ready market. 
While the color and form of individual flowers are not 
always identical, each blossom has richness and purity of 
color, with eye intriguing beauty. 
Flowers 3V2 to 4 inches across, color varying from soft 
satiny salmon-pink, to shades of medium salmon-rose, 
occasionally marked with traces of white. 
Blooms freely, on rather long stems, from middle of 
November to March. 
Grown in a greenhouse or as a garden variety in mild 
climate sections, you will have flowers of captivating beauty, 
a variety worth adding to every fine collection of Camellias. 
CONFUCIUS SAID 551 B. C. 
Don’t misunderstand us. We believe most nurserymen 
are honest. It is not their intent to deceive. They simply 
have no reliable source of information whereby they can 
get out of the confusing labyrinth of fraudulent and 
contradictory names now applied to so many Camellias. 
They have no sources of authentic historical information 
on this interesting subject to guide them, nor can they prove 
the authenticity of these names. 
When you study Camellia catalogues, don’t be surprised 
to find two to ten different horticultural variety names 
applied to an individual plant. 
Present day horticultural names of these plants are 
examples of Babylonian confusion, which nurserymen are 
doing very little to straighten out. 
So, in buying Camellias here and there, you must be 
reconciled to the perplexing confusion of nomenclature of 
the named Camellias. 
It seems each nurseryman has his own idea of what 
this or that variety should be called. More often, he buys 
these mis-named Camellias from a fellow nurseryman, who 
likewise has no authority for the accuracy of names the 
plants are sold by. So the following Chinese proverb aptly 
applies: “One man tells a falsehood, a hundred repeat it 
as true.” 
For this reason, Camellia names have become as intricate 
an art as the naming of Pullman cars, which means nothing 
at all, unless unimpeachable proof is supplied citing a 
recognized old time authority for their accuracy. 
It is exasperating to learn after buying a number of 
different named Camellias from one or more nurseries, you 
are likely to find many duplicates in your collection, all 
bought under different names. 
With such a staggering amount of ignorance concerning 
horticultural variety names of Camellias as now sold, we 
make no further attempt to tell you how to choose your 
plants, except to visit the nurseries while Camellias are in 
flower . . . select the individual variety of your choice . . . 
or, order by mail from a Camellia specialist. 
The Camellias grown at LONGVIEW are sold only by 
Lot Numbers, and each plant can be identified in years to 
come, by the permanent embossed copper label attached 
with a flexible, seven strand Monel metal cable. 
Isn’t it logical to assume Camellias you buy from 
LONGVIEW will be more than satisfactory to you, since 
horticultural variety names are used only when we can cite 
an authority for same. 
... 
Norfolk, Va., March 5th-1937 
I have several Camellias purchased from 
a nearby nursery and find them badly 
misnamed, though they came originally from 
a nursery that has connected with it one 
who has written a book on the subject. 
Have enjoyed your catalogues on Camellias 
as I feel that you are trying to be correct 
in your names. E. A. L. 
So few nurserymen know very much 
about Camellias, for as I go about, I find 
them selling the same plant under different 
names. I doubt that they are honest with 
themselves and their customers. They, like 
me, just don’t know. 
Mrs. J. G. M. 
“In order to acquire truth. It Is necessary to obtain a wide 
and extensive knowledge of what has been said and done in 
the world: critically to inquire into it; carefully to ponder 
over it: clearly to sift it; and earnestly to carry it out.“ 
San Jose, Calif., 4-19-39 
As time goes on and branches on my 
Camellias keep sporting other colors, I am 
more convinced that you have the better 
method in numbering, rather than naming 
the varieties. L. R. C. 
AX HONEST NURSERYMAN WROTE THIS: 
Portland, Oregon, April 11-39 
We have been growing Camellias for some » 
thirty years and we are still guessing. 
R. N. 
Pass Christian, Miss., March, 1938 
Out of my collection of Camellias, I found 
29 duplicates under different names this 
year. M. S. R. 
