Camellia mairei Melch.

Species

Angiosperms > Ericales > Theaceae > Camellia

Characteristics

Shrubs or trees, 2-8 m tall. Young branches grayish brown; year-old branchlets with pubescence becoming black and glabrescent; current year branchlets reddish brown, sparsely gray pubescent to subglabrous or yellowish villous. Petiole ca. 1 cm, pubescent or glabrescent; leaf blade elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or oblong-lanceolate, 6-15 × 2.5-6 cm, leathery, abaxially pale green, sparsely appressed villous when young or later glabrescent except densely villous along midvein, and becoming reddish brown when dry, adaxially dark green and glabrous, midvein abaxially elevated and adaxially slightly raised, secondary veins 6-8 on each side of midvein, abaxially raised, and adaxially strongly impressed, base cuneate, broadly cuneate, or obtuse, margin densely apiculate-serrulate, apex acuminate to long caudate. Flowers axillary or subterminal, solitary or paired, 4-6 cm in diam., subsessile. Bracteoles and sepals 8-10, caducous after anthesis, leathery, both surfaces grayish yellow velutinous or inside glabrous, margin membranous; outer 2-4 bracteoles and sepals semiorbicular, 2-6 mm; inner bracteoles and sepals orbicular to broadly obovate, 1-1.5 cm. Petals 7-9, dark red; outer petals 2-4, nearly distinct, orbicular to broadly obovate, 3-3.5 cm, both surfaces white farinose-velutinous; inner 5 petals broadly obovate to ovate, 4-5 cm, glabrous, basally connate for ca. 1 cm, apex emarginate. Stamens ca. 3 cm; filaments villous, slightly pilose, or glabrous; outer filament whorl basally connate for ca. 2 cm. Ovary globose, ca. 2 mm in diam., yellow tomentose, 3-loculed; style ca. 2.5 cm, yellow velutinous, apically 3-lobed. Capsule ovoid with a mucronate apex, 4-5.5 cm in diam., 3-loculed with 2 seeds per locule; pericarp to 1 cm thick and fleshy when fresh but ca. 5 mm and stiffly leathery when dry. Seeds brown, semiorbicular, 1.5-2 cm in diam., glabrous. Fl. Dec-Feb, fr. Sep-Oct.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 2.0 - 8.0
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Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
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Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
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Environment

Light -
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Hardiness (USDA) 6-10

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

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Images

Camellia mairei unspecified picture

Distribution

Camellia mairei world distribution map, present in China

Conservation status

Camellia mairei threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:829935-1
WFO ID wfo-0000582501
COL ID 5WWM3
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Camellia mairei f. alba Camellia mairei Camellia omeiensis Camelliastrum mairei Thea mairei Camellia mairei var. alba Camellia mairei var. mairei

Lower taxons

Camellia mairei var. lapidea