Volume 10 — PLATE DCLX. CAMELLIA JAPONICA. Var. flore pleno roseo. Rose-coloured Camellia.

CLASS XVI. ORDER VI.

MONADELPHIA POLYANDRIA. Threads united. Many Chives.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx imbricatus, polyphyllus: foliolis interioribus majoribus.

Empalement tiled, many-leaved: the inner leaves the largest.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Camellia floribus roseis: petalis exterioribus magnis, patentibus: interioribus parvis, erectis: foliis latis, nitidis.

Camellia with rose-coloured flowers: the outer petals are large and spreading: the inner ones small and upright: the leaves broad and shining.

CAMELLIA JAPONICA. Var. flore pleno incarnato.

Flesh-coloured Camellia.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Camellia foliis conspicuè nervosis: floribus petalis numerosis, pallide carneis.

Camellia with leaves strongly nerved: flowers with numerous petals, of a pale flesh colour.

So high in estimation is every variation of the Camellia Japonica, that even a new and rare plant is not considered more interesting, nor of so much value as one of these beautiful varieties; the number of which is now extended to sixteen, at least so enumerated by cultivators, and all considered as perfectly distinct. The rose-coloured variety was introduced to the royal gardens at Kew about 1808, and the pale variety was first cultivated in the conservatory of the late Lady Amelia Hume, we believe, in 1806. It is nearly allied to the white, and in severe winters so little colour is visible, that Mrs. Beaumont (with whom this flowered last December at Bretton Hall) informed me it was only by comparing it with the white that it could positively be said to possess any colour; but, upon comparison, a blush was evident. So delicate a test is only requisite in rigid seasons from the want of sun. Both these varieties flower from December till March.