We’ve spent the last few years assembling a collection of species camellias, many of which are quite dainty, and very different from what most gardeners think of, when they hear the genus Camellia mentioned. Flowering today is Camellia euryoides, the camellia that looks like a Eurya, with small pendant white flowers. Eurya is an even more obscure genus in the Pentaphylacaceae family. It’s cousins include the genus, Cleyera, and Ternstroemia (the plant most people confuse with cleyera). Camellia euryoides hails from three mostly subtropical provinces of China (Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangxi). Our garden specimen is now six years old.
It’s great that you featured this noteworthy plant! There are over 250 species of Camellia and most of them can be grown in zones 7-9. They are obscure in cultivation and waiting to be introduced to gardeners.
Amen!
I love my species camellias right along side the big japonicas. With the smaller ones you have to stop and get more intimate to enjoy them.