Cultivars
Camellia japonica is valued for its flowers, which can be single, semi-double or double flowered. There are more than 2,000 cultivars developed from C. japonica. The shade of the flowers can vary from red to pink to white; they sometimes have multi-coloured stripes or specks. Cultivars include 'Elegans' with large pink flowers which often have white streaks, 'Guilio Nuccio' with red to pinkish petals and yellow stamens, 'Mathotiana Alba' with pure white flowers, and the light crimson semi-double-flowered 'The Czar'.
C. japonica 'Alba Plena' is nicknamed the “Bourbon Camellia”. Captain Connor of the East Indiaman, brought the flower to England in 1792. The flowers are pure white and about 3 to 4 inches across. It blooms earlier than most cultivated camellias, in the early winter or spring, and can flower for 4 to 5 months.
The zig-zag camellia or C. japonica 'Unryu' has different zig-zag branching patterns. “Unryu” means “dragon in the clouds” in Japanese; the Japanese believe it looks like a dragon climbing up to the sky. Another type of rare camellia is called the fishtail camellia or C. japonica 'Kingyo-tsubaki'. The tips of the leaves of this plant resemble a fish's tail.
The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
Name |
Size |
Flower colour |
Ref. |
Adelina Patti |
06.5m² |
pink/white |
|
Adolphe Audusson |
64.0m² |
red |
|
Akashigata |
06.5m² |
rose-pink |
|
Alexander Hunter |
16.0m² |
deep crimson |
|
Annie Wylam |
10.0m² |
pale pink |
|
Apple Blossom |
06.5m² |
pale pink |
|
Australis |
10.0m² |
rose red |
|
Berenice Boddy |
10.0m² |
pale pink |
|
Bob Hope |
10.0m² |
deep red |
|
Bob's Tinsie |
02.5m² |
bright red |
|
Bokuhan |
01.0m² |
bright red |
|
Brushfield's Yellow |
10.0m² |
white/yellow |
|
C.M. Hovey |
10.0m² |
rose pink |
|
Carter's Sunburst |
10.0m² |
blush pink |
|
Commander Mulroy |
03.8m² |
white |
|
Drama Girl |
10.0m² |
rose pink |
|
Gloire de Nantes |
06.3m² |
rose pink |
|
Grand Prix |
64.0m² |
red |
|
|
Name |
Size |
Flower colour |
Ref. |
Grand Slam |
16.0m² |
red |
|
Guilio Nucco |
10.0m² |
deep pink |
|
Hagoromo |
10.0m² |
blush pink |
|
Hakurakuten |
10.0m² |
white |
|
Joseph Pfingstl |
16.0m² |
deep red |
|
Jupiter |
10.0m² |
rose red |
|
Lavinia Maggi |
16.0m² |
white/cerise |
|
Margaret Davies Picotee |
10.0m² |
white/red |
|
Mars |
16.0m² |
deep red |
|
Masayoshi |
16.0m² |
red/white |
|
Mathotiana Alba |
10.0m² |
white |
|
Mathotiana Rosea |
10.0m² |
pink |
|
Mercury |
06.3m² |
crimson |
|
Nuccio's Jewel |
10.0m² |
white/rose |
|
Rubescens Major |
10.0m² |
rose red |
|
Sylva |
10.0m² |
crimson |
|
Tricolor |
16.0m² |
white/red |
|
Wilamina |
06.3m² |
pink |
|
|
Variation in the flowers of cultivars |
|
'Hikarugenji' (Souvenir de Henri Guichard)
|
|