Definition of camellia Camellia

ca•mel•li•a

We found 5 definitions of camellia from 5 different sources.

What does camellia mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: camellias
camellia - any of several shrubs or small evergreen trees having solitary white or pink or reddish flowers
		camelia
		shrub, bush a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
		genus camellia tropical Asiatic evergreen shrubs or small trees

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Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

camellia (n.)
An Asiatic genus of small shrubs, often with shining leaves and showy flowers. Camellia Japonica is much cultivated for ornament, and C. Sassanqua and C. oleifera are grown in China for the oil which is pressed from their seeds. The tea plant is now referred to this genus under the name of Camellia Thea.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

camellia
ka-mel′ya, n. a species of evergreen shrubs, natives of China and Japan, noted for the singular beauty of their flowers. [Named from Kamel, Latinised Camellus, a Moravian Jesuit, who collected plants in the Philippine Islands in 1639.]

Wikipedia

"Camellia" is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, native to eastern and southern Asia from the Himalaya east to Japan and Indonesia. Scientists are still discussing how many species there are. The number of species varies between 100 and 250. The genus was named by Linnaeus after Fr. Georg Joseph Kamel S.J., a Jesuit botanist.

They are evergreen shrubs and small trees from 2–20 m tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, thick, serrated, usually glossy, and 3–17 cm long. The flowers are large and conspicuous, 1–12 cm diameter, with (in natural conditions) 5–9 petals; colour varies from white to pink and red, and yellow in a few species. The fruit is a dry capsule subdivided into 1–5 compartments, each containing 1–8 seeds.

The genus is generally adapted to acidic soils, and does not grow well on chalk or other calcium-rich soils. Most species also have a high rainfall requirement and will not tolerate drought.

"Camellia" species are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Butterflies species.

Cultivation and uses.

"Camellia sinensis" is of major commercial importance because tea is made from its leaves. Tea oil is a sweet seasoning and cooking oil made by pressing the seeds of "Camellia sinensis" or "Camellia oleifera".

Many other camellias are grown as ornamental plants for their flowers; about 3,000 cultivars and hybrids have been selected, many with double flowers, as in the gallery below. "Camellia japonica" (often simply called Camellia)