Note 61 — PART THE FIRST.

Two specimens of this plant are now in the physic garden at Upsal. About the year 1755, they were brought over from China by M. Lagerstrom, a director of the Swedish East-India Company, under the supposition of being Tea-plants, till they appeared in blossom, when they proved to be this species of Tsubakki, called by Linnæus, Camellia. Spec. Plant, p. 982. This celebrated Naturalist says, “That the leaves of his Camellia are so like the true Tea, that they would deceive the most skilful botanist; the only difference is, that they are a little broader.” Amœnit. Academ. Vol. VII. p. 251. See also Ellis’s Directions for bringing over foreign Plants, p. 28. A Camellia was brought in 1771 from China in good health; the leaves of this shrub end in a double obtuse point (obtusely emarginated) like those of the Tea tree, which makes them still more liable to be mistaken for those of the latter. Kæmpfer observes, that the leaves of a species of Tsubakki are preserved, and mixed with Tea, to give it a fine flavour. Amœnit. Exotic. p. 858. It is now a common plant in the green-houses about London.