Vol. 1 No.4

March 1970

An Official Publication of the International Camellia Society The CAMELLIAS of ,JAMES TREHANE &SONS LTD. HAM LANE • LONGHAM WIMBORNE • DORSET ENGLAND · BH229DR are

HARDY-They are grown outdoors plunged in sand. HEA:LTHY-They are on their own roots and certified for export. Any plant showing virus is destroyed. G,ROWTH-They are grown hard in 5-inch (12.7 ems.) and 7 inch (17.7 ems.) plastic pots and therefore transplant and grow away well. OF INFINITE VA,RIETY-Over 350 cultivars, including the best new camellias from Australia, Britain, New Zealand and America. New Camellias are added each year. ILLUSTRA"rED IN COLOUR-A new catalogue will be sent free of charge to any member of the Inter­ national Camellia Society. CaDlellias of 8apan Edited by Professor TAKASI TUYAMA 2 Volumes, 213 pages, of Colour Plates COMPREHENSIVE DESCRIPTIONS OF 420 CAMELLIAS "An outstanding contribution to camellia literature"

o o o ( Lf) f::ft

Published by the Takeda Science Foundation, Osaka, Japan Printed and Distributed by Hirokawa Publishing Company, Inc. Obtainable through the International Camellia Society THE COUNTRY'S LEADING GARDENERS USE

For brochure and technical \'.teratu . OHN HUG re wrIte to:­ J EVESHAM ,GAN &COMPA T,I,ph••, 212:/.WORCESTERSHIRE NY LTO. VOLUME I

NUMBER 4

An Official Publication of the International Camellia Society

EDITED BY.. CHARLES PUDDLE

•

Articles may not be reproduced without the permission . of the Author and Editor· Internatiollal Camellia Society

*

PRESIDENT: E. G. WATERHOUSE, 17, McIntosh Street, Gordon, New South Wales, Australia

VICE-PRESIDENT: ALBERT FENDIG, St. Simons Island, Georgia, U.S.A.

SECRET AR Y AND EDITOR . CHARLES PUDDLE, Bqdnant Garden, Tal-y-Cafn, Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom

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The International Camellia Society has been inaugurated with the following motives:- . I. To foster the love of camellias throughout the world and to maintain and to increase their popularity.

'. To undertake historical, scientific and horticultural research in connection with camellias. '. To co-operate with all national and regional camellia societies and with other horticultural societies. .. '. To disseminate information concerning camellias by means of bulletins and other publications. ,.1 o To encourage a friendly exchange between camellia enthusiasts of all nationalities. *

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION One Pound Sterling ($3.00) or equivalent in other currencies.

2 Vol. 1, No.4 MARCH,1970

New Trends in Camellias Leslie Riggall 5 Twenty Outstanding Camellias Albert Fendig 9 A Visii to the Tea Research Institute of Ceylon Walter Wilde 13 Moving Large Camellias Jerry Olrich 19 Thoughts About Higo Camellias Eikichi Satomi 24 . Camellias of the Borromean Islands 26 Bellingrath Gardens and its Camellias Harry F. Ryan, Jr. 28 At the Feet of the Master J; L. Baryless, Jr. 33 Camellia Searching-An Unexpected Danger H. G. Hillier 37 Camellias in the Sub-Tropical Climate of New Zealand Dorothy Aldridge 38 Dartington Revisited Herbert Cowley 41 Camellias in Oregon Helen Gordon Walker 42 Snow Camellias Kaoru Hagiya 45 Camellia Names of Australian Origin E. G. Waterhouse 48 Camellia Flower Gall Neil Treseder 62 Camellias Under Glasshouse Protection Payne H. Midyette 63 Camellias on Limestone John Bloom 64 The World's Most Popular Camellia D. M. Forrest 66 Camellias on a Business Trip L. 1. Simpson 72 The Higo Camellia Taizo Hiratsuka 74 Why Such a Poor Flowering Season? Geoffrey Gorer 77 Camellias as a Hobby George E. Newton 78 Camellias Under Glass in Greater London H. G. Ayling 80 A Cu~e for Balling S. J. Hazlewood 82 Camellia Passage Dorothea W. Newton 84 ~&Th % Notes on Japanese Camellia Publications E. G. Waterhouse 91 Camellia Register 93

3 The. Secretary's Page

The lapse in the publication of the Journal is much regretted' and I hope that this issue will provide both interesting and enjoyable reading. My thanks are du~ to everyone who has contributed to its publication. In spite of all that has been written about camellias our knowledge is still very incomplete and perhaps. this is one of the reasons why they are so fascinating. The deeper one delves into the complexities of their origin and culture, the more intriguing they become. They have inherited some of the ,mystic of the East and appear to cast a spell over everyone who carries out the slightest research into their development. Certainly no group of plants can give greater pleasure. . The popularity of camellias continues to increase despite temporary setbacks caused by adverse weather conditions. I am continually hearing of camellias growing in unexpected areas of the world and of the desire of someone to grow camellias where they are scarcely known. The great success story at society level is in Italy where under the inspired leadership of Dr. Antonio Sevesi the Societa Italiana della Camelia has been successfully established. The revival of interest is most welcome for Italy played a leading part in the development of camellias in the West and many of the old reliable cultivars are of Italian origin. May this newcomer prosper and encourage other countries to form national organisations. It is one of the f!lotiyes of our society to support their establishment. In. Australia a great tribute has been paid to our illustrious President by the establishment of the E. G. Waterhouse Bi-centenary Camellia Garden. I am sure that this is one of the most prized honours which our President has received and will delight everyone who appreciates the value of his . contributions to our knowledge of camellias, especially their nomenclature. The task of compiling the Camellia Checklist has proved immense but the manuscript is progressing. It will be by far the most comprehensive ,list of cam,ellianames ever published. CHARLES PUDDLE.

4 New Trends in Camellias· LESLIE RIGGALL

Porto Portugal

IN the early days it was assumed that all camellias grew wild in tropical or sub-tropical countries and when they first arrived in Europe they were treated as tropical plants, and cultivated only. in stove-houses and heated conservatories. After about a hundred years the discovery was made that C. faponica is hardy in Britain and countries with a similar winter climate. Camellias were then planted in large numbers outdoors, and many fine specimens, up to a hundred years of age,bear witness to the success of this policy. However, severe winters and spring frosts do check the development of camellia plants, and also the quantity and quality of the blooms produced is always greatly reduced by cool summers or cold winters. The finest natural camellia blooms I have eyer seen. were grown in or near Sacramento, California. They were astonishing, and equalled the spectacular gibbed flowers of the Southern U.S.A. Sacramento has a very hot summer, with regular temperatures in the nineties, or even higher, and the contrast with San Francisco, which is on the same latitude but has a cool summer similar to that of Britain, is amazing. San Francisco camellia blooms are poor, by American standards, and rhododendrons are often preferred locally. I feel that one must conclude that heat is the essential factor in the produ~tion of fine camellia blooms, and unless one enjoys hot summers and mild winters then the only way to produce an abundance of good flowers is to grow them under glass. I consider too that this is essential for breeding new camellias. It is rather a coincidence· that growers in the Southern States of the U.S.A. are now turning to greenhouse culture, even though they have hot sum.mers. Since the war many millions of camellias have been planted there, and several severe blizzards in recent years have wrought havoc with these fine collections of camellias. And so for one reason or another, the new trend is towards growing camellias under glass again. This is not to say that camellias should not be grown outside; on the contrary they should be used for landscaping wherever they are hardy. The lustrous evergreen foliage alone would justify. this, even if they flowered only once in a decade. But when they are planted outside it is advisable to have some shelter from trees. Deciduous trees give too much shade in summer, and insufficient protection in winter, but shelter consisting mainly Editor's Note. Mr. Riggall grew camellias in Britain for many years but now gardens in the more favourable climate of Portugal. 5 of pine trees is ideal. Wherever and however they are grown, a thick mulch is essential to success, because in their natural habitat camellias enjoy frequent rains even in summer, and they will not tolerate drying or freezing of the roots. Ideally one should combine the feeding of camellias with the mulching. The natural food of shallow-rooting plants is the detritus on the floor of the forest, mainly rotting leaves and branches. The way to reproduce these conditions is to shred the rubbish of the garden, including prunings and small branches, together with anything else which has an organic origin­ bark, paper and cardboard-and use it as a mulch for the camellias. The problem is to find a machine for this. In America the Kemp Shredder is used, but it costs a hundred pounds, and with freight charges, and duties, it becomes too expensive elsewhere, but a similar machine produced in Europe would fulfil a long-felt need. Although there has been a craze for large flowers in America since the last war, I notice a dawning realisation that colour and form are more important. I find that the Californians are much less inclined to be hypnotised by mere size, and indeed within the last ten years there is a growing interest in miniatures along the Pacific coast. Ten OJ more years ago any small-flowered camellia would have been used automatically as understock for grafting, but more recently the good ones have been preserved and there are some exquisite miniatures now. A novel idea which has been developed by at least one American enthusiast is to grow camellias in hanging baskets. He has obtained beautiful effects with 'c. M. Wilson.' He told me that 'Elegans' and its various mutants will weep nicely if the leader is cut away. 'Sweet and Low,'. a weeping variety originated by Harvey Short, would be suitable for pedestals and hanging baskets, as would a number of the cultivars of C. sasanqua. Other species could be displayed beautifully in this way, for example C. fraterna, also the hybrid 'Tiny Princess.' A new method of propagating camellias which has been developed is "Nurse Seed Grafting," and after seeing a demonstration in Mobile, Alabama, I am convinced that this is a great improvement on other methods of propagation. Any camellia seeds can be used and they can be· surrounded with moist sphagnum moss and germinated in a closed glass jar or plastic bag. The important thing is to give them heat, for example near a radiator or behind a sunny window. As the seeds germinate they are planted in a propagating frame or bench, in a mixture of peat and sand. When the plumules are two to three inches high, although they have not yet unfolded their leaves, the seeds are ready for grafting. The whole of the growth which has emerged from the seed (both plumule and root) is cut off in one piece, and is replanted in the compost, where it will develop into a new camellia. In the remaining part of the seed an opening will be seen between the two cotyledons. This opening is widened with a knife to take the scion. The scion is cut to a wedge shape at the base and is pushed firmly into the opening made by the knife. The graft is then replanted with the union Ii .inches below the surface of the compost. fJ New roots will form and the graft will grow much faster than would; for instance, a rooted cutting. Among the advantages of nurse seed grafting are the following:­ 1. Juvenile tissue is more compatible with mature tissue. Therefore this method is not only easier but more successful, and the plants develop very rapidly. 2. Many varieties grow poorly on their own roots, and these are stimulated by nurse seed grafting and make good plants very quickly. 3. Those varieties which are partially incompatible with mature rootstock are compatible with seed tissue. . 4. There can be no reversion to the stock; nurse seed grafts remain true for ever. 5. Since the original seedling is still growing, there are now twocamellias where one existed before. Another grafting technique which is very popular is the one whereby an older plant of an inferior variety is converted to a new variety. The old bush is cut down to within a foot or perhaps a few inches of the ground. There may be one or more branches at this point. Each branch has ·at least one scion (the number depending on the thickness of the branch) inserted at the side, and sticking straight up from the sawn top of the branch, so that the cambium layers of both scion and stock make contact. A small slit can be made with a knife, to take the scion, which has been shaved to a narrow wedge before it is inserted. Earth or sand (nothing heavy like clay) can be heaped round the stock, the wound is painted with' a preservative, and the whole graft is coveted with it glass vessel, or some polyethylene bags if more than one branch has been grafted. Subsequent growth is extremely rapid, with a great saving in time. This is done in March, or April, according to climatic conditions of the region. These two grafting techniques used together have great value for a camellia breeder. Controlled crosses can be made, and as soon as the seeds germinate they are used as nurse seed grafting stock. The original seedlings are also grown on until they flower. Those which are not worth preserving are then cut down and grafted with superior scions, and these develop much more rapidly than they could by any other means. The time required for any given breeding programme could be cut by about two-thirds. We can now consider what the breeding programmes are likely to be. Strangely enough, although the camellia has heen popular in the West for so many years, there has been very little hybridising until recently, the only exception being the hybrids originated by J. C. Williams, who pioneered the breeding of camellias by crossing C. japonica with C. saluenensis. The following species are now being used in a variety 6f breeding programmes: C. fraterna, c. grantbamiana, C. japonica, C. lutchuensis, C. pitardii, C. reticulata, C. saluenensis, and C. sasanqua. . . With these, and other species, we can breed for particular characteristics in camellias. We can breed for hardiness, early flowering, late flowering, fragrance, floriferousness on a bushy plant, also to increase the colour range with yellow a,nd purple hybrids. This last will probably involve the. use of species not yet in cultivation. 7 HARDINESS· Three different aspects of hardiness are involved. First we need plants which can withstand zero temperatures without qamage. Secondly we require flower buds which are freeze-proof through the winter and will still produce good flowers after severe weather. Thirdly we require flowers which when opening can take a little frost without being ruined~ C. japonica is the 'most obvious parent here; I suggest 'Kitty,' 'Berenice Boddy' and 'Donckelaarii: The hardier forms of C. x williamsii would also be useful. One must bear in mind that hybrids often have desirable qualities which may be lacking in their parents. Thus C. reticulata and C. saluenensis, both of which are somewhat tender, when crossed have produced excellent hybrids which are hardy. EARLY FLOWERING This is mainly of interest to growers who want flowers in the autumn before the frosts arrive. C. granthamiana, also C. sasanqua and its close relatives, seem to be the most likely sources of autumn-flowering hybrids. LATE FLOWERING Here the object is to produce camellias that flower after the frosts are finished, desirable in cold climates, especially those with treacherous variable weather like· the British climate. Probably. the simple method of cross­ pollinating the .latest flowering camellias in· one's collection would serve as well as any. FLORIFEROUSNESS-BUSHY FOLIAGE The best parents might be C. faponica, C. saluenensis, c. iraterna, and C. x williamsii. Undoubtedly breeders of the future will provide us with camellias which will furnish the garden. with plants of the highest architectural merit in the landscape, and will also give breath-taking displays of beauty when they flower. FRAGRANCE If camellias were fragrant they would far surpass the rose in excellence and popular esteem, because roses are ugly in winter, whereas camellias are always beautifuL·. Some breeders are trying to obtain fragrance by crossing cultivars which are slightly fragrant, but a far more likely approach is the work which is being done by breeders with C. lutchuensis. In their first efforts fragrance has been obtained at the expense of flowering size and quality, but second generation hybrids and back-crossing should solve this problem. Other species which should be. tried when available are C. dubia, C. euphlebia, c. furfuracea,c. gracilipes, C. henryana, and C. melliana. Unfortunately many of these fragrant species grow in territories to which entry is restricted at the present time. YELLOW CAMELLIAS .Here again breeders are crossing camellias which show a tinge of yellow in their flowers. Whatever success they may achieve, it must surely be better to create hybrids from species which are really yellow, when they become .available. The following species could be used: C. dormoyana, C. euphlebia, C. 'Ileuryi' and c. gracilipes. As two of these species appear in the previous group, hybrids which are both yellow and fragant should be possible. $ PURPLE CAMELLIAS , Most breeders have done little in this direction as this colour does not appear to be appreciated in camellias. Suitable. new species to use might be C. amplexicaulis and C. piequetiana, as they have purple flowers. Many hybrids of C. saluenensis show a bluish tinge. 'Kuro Tsubaki' might also be used, as the twigs and even the roots are purple, and this purple colour is dominant in many of its hybrids, even down to ,the roots. Whatever the breeder's objective may be, he should include C. saluenensis and also a good form of C. x williamsii among his breeding plants, the reason being that C. saluenensis is compatible with most other camellias. Where two species combining desired characteristics are incompatible, C. saluenensis can be used as a bridge between them, and another advantage is that it sets seed freely. British and Australian breeders seem to have used C. saluenensis much more than the Americans have. The camellia is already a splendid flower on a superb plant. But the possibilities for camellia breeders in the future are infinitely varied and tremendously exciting. If C. iaponica can produce fifteen thousand different cultivars within its own species, most of them purely chance seedlings or mutants, how many hybrids will it produce when controlled camellia breeding really gets under way. It is difficult to imagine. But meanwhile we have a wealth of camellias to enjoy now, whilst we await the wonderful camellias of the future.

Twenty Outstanding Camellias

ALBERT FENDIG

Georgia U.S.A.

LITERALLY hundreds of camellias are originated each year. A few of these are outstanding, a few more are excellent and a few are simply mediocre. Generally it takes several years following the introduction of a new camellia before it can be correctly evaluated and for this reason the latest novelties have not been considered. This article is written for the purpose of describing twenty introductions which have appeared in recent years and which this writer rates as outstanding. At the top of any list of recent C. iaponica cultivars must be mentioned 'Guilio Nuccio' and its variegations. A chance seedling introduced by Nuccio's Nurseries, Altadena, California, made its first appearance in 1953. It is a coral-rose in colour very large in diameter and depth and its texture is excellent. The central yellow stamens are surrounded by large erect and semi-erect petals some of which are folded and rabbit-eared. The foliage 9 'Tiffany'

'Guilio Nuccio'

'Betty Sheffield Supreme'

'Miss Charleston'

10 is long, dark green and decorative. The plant is dense and vigorous and the bush blooms well. There are several variegated forms, some perhaps more spectacular than the original solid coloured one, and a fimbriated mutation 'Guilio Nuccio Fimbriated: 'Betty Sheffield' has produced many fine mutations and as far as the writer . is concerned 'Betty Sheffie1dSupreme' is the queen of the family. It was discovered by Mrs. Green W. Alday, of Thomasville, Georgia, in 1957. Its .texture, substance and colour,all are outstanding. The deep pink border margining the pure white, crisp upstanding· petals is a frame for a very lovely Bower. All of this family are outstanding and merit a place in our ··gardens. 'Miss Charleston' is a very high centred deep red and the moired variegated form is perhaps even more striking. It is very large and its irregular petals and stamens intermingle. It was raised by Bill McGill of Adams' Run, South Carolina, and· commenced being discussed and winning . highly commended awards in the early '60's. There are several. very good "sweet rea" varieties of recent appearance and 'Annette Gehry' certainly is one a these that deserve mention. It is light lavender pink shading to white at centre, averages about 41 inches in diameter and was originated. by Dr. E. 1. Gehry of Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 1954. . 'Carter's Sunburst' has been blooming since 1951 and attracting attention in shows and gardens ever since. It was produced by E. H. Carter of Monterey Park, California, and has quite large and strikingly variegated flowers ranging from pale pink to deeper pink and also varies in form..... 1t is a good bloomer throughout a long flower season. 'Howard Asper' is an outstanding cross between C, reticulata 'Lionhead' and Co japonica 'Coronation: It is a huge medium pink peony form sometimes attaining 7 inches in diameter with a 4 inch depth. It was raised in 1958 by Howard Asper of Escondido, California. Unusual for its delicate colour and its crisp form is the 'Donation' seedling 'Julia Hamiter,' an Fz hybrid. It is a delicate blush with pink margins and the finely textured petals roll over at the edges and surround the rose· bud centre. The originator of this fine hybrid is Fred Hamiter of Shreveport, Louisiana. 1. E. Jury of New Plymouth, New Zealand, is responsible for some excellent hybrids. One of these which I have admired is 'Elsie Jury,' a 51 inch pink peony form produced from a cross between a rose coloured single C. saluenensis x C. japonica 'Pukekura,' a white incomplete double cultivar of Co japonica. .. A top flight Co japonica is 'Tiffany,' a large 5 inch loose peony to anemone form light orchid to deeper pink. It was originated by Dr. .J. H. Urabec, La Canada, California, from seed planted prior to 1956. 'Extravaganza' is well named. It is a very large white vividly variegated with light red stripes and blotches. This anemone form came from Harvey Short of Pasadena, California.· 11 4. favourite of the writer's is not often seen, but is worthy of a prominent place in any camellia garden. This is 'Caroline Browne Variegated,' a red strikingly moired and marked with white. It is large, averaging 5 inches or more, loose incomplete double of excellent' substance and grows well, is hardy and blooms profusely. The. solid form was raised by Bob Holmes and Sam Hutaff of Mt. Olive, North Carolina, about 1950 and the variegated form Erst was described about 1956. Rivalling 'Mrs. D. W. Davis' for a top place among the light, blush .semi-doubles of very large size is 'Floradora Girl' originated in 1961 by '. J. M. Hull, of Mobile, Alabama. Of this formation and colour and worthy because of its profuseness of bloom and hardiness is 'Marlene,' a seedlin~ from H. E. Ashby of Bonneau, South Carolina, who also originated 'Mark Alan' and its exotic variegated form. Some fine whites have made their appearance in recent years. There is 'Miss Universe', a large loose peony form introduced by Kramer Bros., Upland, California. 'White Nun,' a very large semi.double with thick petals originated by McCaskill Gardens, Pasadena, California, and 'Charlie Bettes,' an incomplete double of 5t inch diameter originated by Charles Bettes of Jacksonville, Florida, are both excellent: Stewart's White Supreme; another very large white semi~double to loose peony form has upright petals. It was raised by W. Stewart of Savannah, Georgia. Finally the species C. granthamiana, a huge white single with a startling cluster of yellow stamens is not only outstanding but has proved to be a very good parent of inter-specific hybrids.' .' . This list· is only intended as a sampling of some of the very fine camellias which have made their appearance during recent years and because of their merit will continue to be remembered.

.12 A Visit to the Tea Research Institute of Ceylon

WALTER WILDE

Staffordshire Urtited· Kingdom

PACKETS of high-grown Ceylonese tea labelled Nuwara Eliya, Uva and Dimbula are quite well known in the United Kingdom but the research which maintains the production of these teas may be less well known. It is a really fascinating story and for a camellia grower a visit to the Tea Research Institute (henceforth called TRI) at Talawake1e in the central mountains of Ceylon is a memorable experience. The story could begin from so many angles. You could imagine me sitting with a party of geographers in a: modest hotel at Trincomalee drinking iced coca,cola beneath a faded jubilee portrait of Queen Victoria and a pottery figure of Johnny Walker. In this case I had better direct your imaginative gaze across the wide deep harbour cowards China Bay where tea chests are being laden on to ocean going vessels by means of lighters. If you are in no hurry to reach Talawakele, 250 miles to the south west, you could allow your imagination to run riot for a minute and imagine a typhoon sweeping across this very sporon the night of December 22nd/23rd, 1964. Then winds of 100 m.p.h. sank all the lighters and left 8,000 chests of tea floating in Trinco Bay. This Christmas tea-party reduced the amount of tea handled by China Bay from 315 million cons in 1963 to 265 million tons in 1965. But it is a full day's journey by road from Trinco to the TRI and the roads through Dimbula, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya are narrow and very tortuous in places. Ceylon is certainly a 'ceaseless cornucopia of marvellous things' but the roads are excluded from this eulogy. The plant life in the wet zone of S.W. Ceylon is magnificent, however, and a common experience is to realise on arrival that one can name very few plants outside the important cultivated crops. And tea is Ceylon's most important commercial crop. After. visiting Ceylon I am not at all surprised that no one living in the Island belongs to the International Camellia Society. Flowering cultivars of camellia are almost totally ignored. On another occasion I would wish to describe the Royal Botanic Gardens atPeradeniya. Here I would only say that not a single camellia is grown in these famous gardens. The only collection seems co be on St. Coombs Estate at the TRI· and this will· be briefly described later. 13 Tamil tea pickers. Only two leaves and a bud are removed.

Young tea plants protected by netting. 14 The central core of high mountains in Ceylon rise to over 7,000 feet (the most famous, though not the highest, peak is Adam's Peak at 7,341 feet) and in order to reach Nuwara Eliya one must climb tortuously through hundreds of square miles of tea bushes. There are over half a million acres given over to tea in Ceylon and with an average of over 3,000 bushes to the acre one can imagine the manual labour involved in pruning and picking the tea. Only where pruning has just been done can one see the soil at all and the pluckers who are "flushing" the bushes look like' butterflies from ' the far side of the deeply incised valleys. On such a journey a breathing space to let the over-heated engiqe cObl down is necessary.. Take a panoramic view and let Pidarattallagalla (Pedro) Peak at 8,282 feet, and the flat topped Hatton Plains Mountain on . the. skyline, remind you of parts of Scotland. Walk along the road and read the Tea Estate sign which says Sanquhar Estate. Speak with a retired European estate manager and he will remind you that only since. coffee was destroyed in Ceylon by the disease Hemileiavastatrix in the late 1870's has tea been grown commercially in these mountains. '.'

In order to reach the TRI' one must pass through Nuwara Eliya.• The. Welcome sign talls it 'salubrious' and the meteorological data suggests a ..... bracing environment compared with Colombo. The figures are as follows:----:

NUWARA ELlYA (ALTITUDE 6,170 ft.) Rainfall (in) Temp. ("F) January ;..... 6.9 57.2 February 2.0 57.2 March 4.0 58.6 April ;..... 5.0 60.6 May '" ...... 8.4 61.8

June n 10.4 60.7 July ; 10.9 60.1 August 7.5 60.2 September ...... 8.2 60.0 October 9.7 59.8 November 9.2 59.5 December 7.8 58.4 Year ; 90.4 59.2

It is under these climatic conditions on St. Coombs Estate that every aspect of the growthand manufacture of tea is studied. The TRI is It miles.off the main A7 road and the branch road climbs past the Labour Lines, the Minor Staff Quarters, the Junior Staff Quarters and the Intermediate Staff Quarters to the Factory, the Laboratories and the Guest House. The . undulating country around is completely clothed in plots of clonal teas and areas where field experiments are being conducted. A list of these experiments would read like the opening verses of. St. Matthew's Gospel and one can onlywhet your appetite for another cuP. of tea! Let us mention just ten experiments which were explained tome by various members of the Research Staff. .' 15 -- ..~ .""..,. ~... "

Tea Research Institute surrounded by new clonal teas.

Camellia collection at Tea Research Institute. 16 A great problem in growing tea. has been the meadow nematode. These minute creatures eat into the root cortex and debilitate the plant. One could of course buy the costly chemical methyl bromide from the U.s;A, but two new cheaper and safer methods of combating nematOdes have been studied. The first method is the planting of Guatemala grass. This grass is not a host to· nematodes and decreases their population in the podsolic soils as well as acting as a green manure before replanting new clonal teas. Some of these vigorous high yielding clonal teas seem to have a bio-chemical tolerance of nematodes and the research findings of the TRI at St. Coombs has enabled infestation to be satisfactorily controlled without large scale use of methyl bromide. Yet another pest, viz., the Tortrix caterpillar, is being controlled biologically, rather than chemically, by using its internal parasite Macrocentrus homonae. This small creature was imported from Java and illustrates the international co-operation which research often needs. It took the entire staff of the TRI from 1947 to 1950 to find effective methods of controlling the Blister Blight Leaf Disease. Here copper sprays are used and, as every gardener knows, these are very expensive. . A more homely topic perhaps is the development of soluble instant tea. The researchers not. only produced such a tea in 1959 but have recently produced an instant tea soluble in cold water. (One's first reaction to this information was to regard it as research for research's sake but there are some advantages providing the water supply is safe!) The factory at St. Coombs had much to say about the conservative general public which demanded a black twisted leafy tea rather than the brown flaky tea which would be so much simpler and cheaper to market. To listen to a researcher who is studying the 'essential oils' which affect the flavour of tea is rather like seeing a puzzling reflection in a mirror. The plain truth seems to be that no one yet knows very much about the volatile compounds which play an important part in the development of flavour. I was assured, however, that "the enzyme systems are being studied by various methods including starch gel electrophoresis, manometry and spectrophotometry and evidence has been obtairied for the presence in tea of .polyphenolases, esterases, peptidases, phosphatases and transaminases." We wish our friends well as they endeavour to characterise the other enzyme systems! Leaving the Laboratories and viewing some of the field experiments was a good antidote to the bio-chemical lecture on the flavour of tea. The experiments on shade trees were particularly interesting. Acacia decurrens, albizza, and grevillias were all used as well as eucalypts. These latter trees rob the soil of much moisture, however, and are better grown as fire wood elsewhere than in the actual tea gardens. Much work on the optimum spacing of shade trees remains to be done not only at St. Coombs (which is at 4,500 ft.) but also at the other centres of the TRI. The Low Country station of St. Joachim is near Ratnapura and the Mid Country station is near Kandy. The question of trace element deficiencies is one which interests all camellia growers. In Ceylon the commercial tea grower tends to find that 17 any long term imbalance in his fertilizer programme results in deficiency symptoms. Thus ,zinc may be needed in one area and boron in another. The complex reactions of soil microflora. are also involved in this relationship between fertilizers and trace element intake. It is all a question of trial and error and accumulated experience. Here the advisory service of the TRI is invaluable to the tea planters. One could go on at length in this semi-pedantic way listing the multifarious activities of the TRI. The thirst for knowledge is only equalled by one's thirst for the 'cup that cheers.' For the most part the research is directly beneficial to the tea grower in Ceylon. Indeed in 1965 the widespread replanting on Low Country estates of the new clones TRI 2023 and TRI 2026 produced record yields of 8,000 lb. per acre of made tea. And in that year it is reported Ceylon became the world's largest exporter of tea. One third of the tea we drink in the United Kingdom comes from Ceylon. The finest high-grown teas are from estates in the mountains which surround the Tea Research Institute at Talawakele. Before leaving St. Coombs I asked to see the small collection of flowering camellias left to the Institute by Mr. Coombs. .I counted twenty or so bushes all about 7 to 10 years old. Only two of these were named varieties-'Donckelaarii' and 'Alba Plena.' For the rest the labels have such captions as "Pink double,""Striped semi­ double" and so on. The blooms had all faded and so I was saved the embarrassment of trying to name these anonymous cultivars. To be honest there is not much obvious enthusiasm at the TRI for flowering camellias. Perhaps the answer lies in trying to change the flower offered to the Buddha from a lotus blossom to a camellia! The Director of the TRI admitted that the TRI ought to belong to the International Camellia Society and certainly knew of our existence. Now that we know a little more of the manifold activities of the TRI one can perhaps appreciate more fully our Broken Orange Pekoes and Souchongs. The metamorphosis from the green camellia shoots plucked in Ceylon to the fragrant black tea we buy at home is not a simple one and the results from the intensive research of the Tea Institute cannot fail to benefit camellia growers with cultural problems throughout the world. Fortunately cultivated camellias are quite robust plants and prone to few troubles in temperate climates. How fortunate we are that our livelihood does not depend on picking the young shoots which produce such beautiful blooms. .

18 Moving Large Camellias JERRY OLRICH

California U.S.A.

BEFORE planning to move a large camellia,it is essential to study the plant growing in the ground, and then to decide the size of box required. For a plant that has a 12 feet spread and is 15 feet tall, one should use a box 5 feet square at the top, 3~ feet deep and taper the sides so that the bottom of the box is approximately 3 feet square. Tapering the ball of earth will make it possible to firmly secure the box so that it will be safe to move any distance. Normally one should dig a trench on opposite sides of the tree twelve. months before transplanting. Sometimes this is not possible, and it milY be necessary to complete the entire balling and boxing in one operation. The best season to box and move your plant varies according to climatic conditions, but in California it would be December, January and February. Usually when the plant is about to bloom or is in flower, it is in a dormant growth stage. It imperative, camellias can be boxed immediately after the new growth has hardened, which is usually in August in this area, but it cannot be recommended, as there is a risk of damage by weather. If you decide on afive or six feet ball,dig the trench at least a f(j(}t away from where the box will be placed, and make it sufficiently wide to enable you to work in comfort. This will give you enough space to shave down the root ball so that your box will fit. Use every precaution when digging, and if a thick root is found, dig around it so that it can be cleanly cut with a pair of sharp pruners. The depth of the trench should be at least two to three feet below the bottom of the ball, as this will permit you to tunnel underneath once the sides of the box are placed and bolted. If the size of the ball is about 3 inches larger than the box on two opposite sides, this will give a solid ball when the framework is bolted. Should the weather be dry or frosty, keep the ball of earth covered with polythene to prevent loss of moisture. After the box sides are bolted, proceed to place the bottom boards one at a time. Ensure that the ball is well blocked underneath so that it cannot slip or fall and hurt someone. When the bottom of the box is completed the whole structure must be made rigid by the bolting of thick timber boards to the end sides, and two lengths across the top. Once all timbers are bolted together, the camellia can be moved at any time you wish. 19 Before moving, or immediately after, prune out about a third of the growth, thereby compensating for the loss of the roots that had to be cut in boxing. After this is done, spray the foliage with water, and if possible add one to three drops of Vitinan No, 2 or Superthrive. If the ball gets dry, take a metal drum and punch a few small nail holes in the bottom, then fill the drum with water so that it will drip slowly into the ball. This will ensure that sufficiencmoisture gets to the' roots, for if you use a hose or sprinkler the· water runs off and· does not penetrate. When moving any distance do not drive too fast. If possible the, plant should be covered with canvas and syringed occasionally to keep it from being dehydrated. . When replanting a large camellia in a· new site, it should be placed as near as possible direction-wise as it was before .I1}oving. In fact it is a good idea to mark the north side of the tree so that it is replanted facing this direction, for the foliage on the other sides is much more· tender. The box should be carefully removed, and in no i::ircumstances should. the camellia be planted too deeply or too high; Plant it as nearly as possible as it was growing. I would caution the reader to exercise every care when moving a plant as a plant is a living thing. You would never See a doctor abuse a patient, and then wonder why the patient does not get better. Do not be discouraged if the plant does not grow freely for a season or two. As long as it does not drop leaves too heavily there is no need to worry. Sometimes it takes up to three or four years for plants to recuperate. You must remember the plant. has had quite a shock by having many of its roots cut. . I do not mean to discourage anyone from moving large specimens for the writer has moved many plants and quite a number of camellias with much sUCcess. Plants have been moved because they were in the' way of new structures, .or ,in order to save the. parent plant of a well-known cultivar. Large camellias may be kept in a box for several months, or even several years, providing they are shaded and protected and get sufficient water. , ,A few:years ago it was this writer's task to move an orange tree which was about 38 feet tall, with a trunk 27 inches in diameter. This tree, 109 years old, had been· growing on the hillside where there was much rock. We had planned on a 16 feet square box, 6 feet deep, but due to the rocky situation the box was cut to 11 by 13 feet, and only 3 feet deep. We pruned off about 16 feet from the top, shaded it with canvas to keep the sun from burning it, and today it is doing beautifully; in fact it looks better than it has for severa:! years. Plan first what you want to do, then go ahead and do it.

20 The illustrations show the size of timbers used, the box construction and the equipment needed to successfully move large established camellias.

Tapering sides of root-ball before placing sides of box.

21 Use of hydraulic jacks to force in sides of box.

l

Tunnelling to fix bott0m boards. 22 The completed structure of the box.

This large specimen of Camellia 'Usu-otome' ('Pink Perfection') was moved 130 miles.

23 Miscellaneous Thoughts about .Higo Camellias

EIKICHI SATOMI

Tokyo Japan

WHEN the late Mr. Ralph Peer, ex-president of the American Camellia Society, made his second trip to Japan with his wife in the Spring of 1954, I accompanied them on a tour to Kyushu. At Nagasaki, in spite of heavy rain, we were keen to inspect a plant nursery under Professor Toyama's kind guidance, because we expected to find some strange types of camellia called 'Isahaya' and 'Ohisahaya' in this area. However, as far as camellias were concerned, there were none at Isahaya. As the weather did not improve we cancelled our visit to Goshima to see the wild camellias and stayed in the hotel at Unzen. Next morning we headed for Beppu through Kumamoto, but Mr. Peer, who had known much about camellias for a long time, regretted not being able to stop at Kumamoto due to the tightly packed and fixed schedule of our trip. Professor Miyazawa had booked rooms for us at Beppu in the Suginoi Hotel and was waiting' for us to arrive there so that we had no time to change our schedule. The next year, at the request of Mr. Peer, I accompanied Dr. Miyazawa on a visit to Mr. Yaichi Shimada, then the President of KanbutsudaicJumoku Garden at Kumamoto. There we inspected the original trees of higo tsubaki which had survived the air-raids on Kumamoto. Only about 30 different types had survived and the rest were scattered over a wide area. It is a matter of hearty congratulation that from such an unfortunate beginning such abundant specimens have· developed today. The most memorable occasion associated with this trip came when we were afforded the opportunity to visit Mr. Taniguchi at his be::lside and to hear him reminisce about the good old days when the plantation of higo tsubaki was at its zenith. Mr. Taniguchi, first son of the proprietor of 'Taniguchi Kaika (flower) Garden; had been a good friend of Mr. Hikoichi Motoyama, President, of the Osaka Mainichi Newspaper, which was proud to be recognized as having the largest circulation in Japan at the time. We

Trahslated from Riga Tsubaki, No.1, April, 1965. 24 were told that Mr. Motoyama had planted many different types around his mansion at Osaka. Approximately at the same time, the proprietor of Sakagami Peony Garden also collected various types of higo tsubaki. Therefore, among the trees planted in the Kansai area, those which survived from the air-raids are now taken care of in the Osaka area. The art of making tsubaki bonsai is a characteristic technique of the horticulturists of Kumamoto, and is a tradition of which all should be proud ... not only the people in the whole of Japan, but also in the whole world. Unfortunately, it is too late for regret now, but when I visited a certain temple near Kanbutsudai with Mr. Shimada as guide, I saw some ten pots of higo tsubaki bonsai, which the resident priest was looking after as his hobby. Because each one of them had its own interesting character, I wanted very much to buy one as a souvenir for Tokyo, but unfortunately as the resident priest was out, I could not do so. Since then, however, I have not been able to completely forget about these wonderful trees . . . they come to me as a dream at night, and as a reverie in daytime. ' One day I told Mr. Rikyo Ishikawa about them and he visited the temple when he went to Kyushu on business, but at that time they had already been sold. Nothing could be done but to accept the fact that now there was no chance; however, I still think deeply from time to time, although it could be 'Abata mo Ekubo' (Beauty is in the eye of the beholder). Some kinds of higo tsubaki have a fairly difficult name, 'Nihon Nishiki' which I cultivated in the early stages was then called 'Nippon Nishiki' (Japanese Brocade). It was two or three years after the end of the war when Mr. Issei Nishida, a horticulturist from Kumamoto, told me that it should be called 'Yamato-Nishiki'. The name 'Hanyo' . . . I could not understand the meaning of it at first but recently I evolved my own interpretation, deciding that Han means imposing and serene (self composed) morning sun, because the character of Han is an adjective which describes a self-composed situation, as in the case of Confucius' words 'Wise man has broad mind and self-composed body.' To be honest, too, I could not read 'khu'. Azalea and Peony are similar and they are called 'Kurai-no-himo' (Rank String). I presume that in the old days at court, they distinguished their rank by the different shapes and colours of the costumes they wore. The string is khu and no doubt' that showed their rank but it must be correct to pronounce ICHU. The colour of the 'khu' flower is scarlet. I wonder what high rank the scarlet denotes? I wonder why they call it 'Chooshoo'. Ir, is rather funny to translate literally . . . as to scorn or to laugh at. Is it looking down on the other flowers, thinking they are all inferiors? There must be some original explanation for it and I would like SOmeone to tell me. The names such as 'Kyonishiki' (Kyoto brocade), 'Hagoromo' (feather costume), 'Shirazuru' (white crane), 'Mazuru' (g~nuine crane), 'Shirayuki' 25 Cirhite snow), are given to many different plants other tpan higo tsub.aki ~~d iris 'quj~e confusing. When one starts to buy seedlings, care should be t\ike.rt'so that' confusion will not arise...... D~: L~mmerts of America, who is famous for experimental breeding of ro~es and camellias, said that Japanese cultivated camellias did not simply germinate from the seed of bush camellia (C. japonica) but resulted from iuter-pollination of all tsubaki, eventually giving such' rich colourful vaiietiesas seen today..

Overseas horticulturists are experimenting with the 'crossing~ of 'Shiranui' (~ri6w-not-fire) and other camdlias . . . using the pollen of each. ,.>:!Shiranui' has beell exported by the seedliilgexporters under the name of .'Fuyajoo' (nightless quarters), and known overseas as 'Fuyajo' (note, prorWaterhouse; says No.!). '. .

.It. may b~ that '~uyajoo' is a distinct stra~n of ~he c~~ellia ,?f Chinese ongtn, possibly havtng been crossbred from ItS Chtnese parent; It is interesting to note' that these days American and British horticulturists are paying attention to our higo tsubaki in order to use them as basic material for experimenting with new crossbred varieties.

:,":'Camellias' of the Borromean Islands·

Lake Maggiore Italy

THE:lg~rdens of Isola Madre and Isola Bella are situated on two. of the larger islands of Lake Maggiore, N.· Italy, and comprise part of the group kQ.Qyv,n ast,he Borromea,n Jslands. They were prigina,lly rna,de il,1 1671, on whai' was little more than barren rock, and have always been open to the public. In the course of time they have been visited by Royalty, by almost every famous political figure, by famous botanIsts from every country, and by literally millions of visitors from all parts of the world. Fortunately they have always been well cared for and at .the present time they are at the· peak of their mature beauty...... 'Fo,~"camellia enthusiasts these two beautiful gardens have a particular appeal. They contain (in a relatively small area) what must be qne of the finest collections of old, specimen plants growing out of doors in Europe. It is' interesting to observe that the, gardeners who planted them, so many years ago. avoided the mistake of treating them as tender plants and establishing them under glass as was done until, comparatively recently in ~9, m'lny European gardens. The older specimens of Camellia japonica hYl:>Kids in these two gardens are almost certainly some of the first camellias toha'vebeen received in Emope from China and Japan. They were planted 26 immediately in the positions they now occupy and are still flourishing. The single flowered varieties seed freely and many self sown seedlings can be found un:let the parent plants. Camellias grow so well in the gardens of the Borromean Islands that they attain the proportions of trees; while others are cultivated as hedges. In 1906 a catalogue of the gardens referred to a specimen which, at the base of the trunk, had a circumference of more than a yard. These huge specimens (some of which are whivars no longer in general cultivation, and some of which are natural hybrids) are mostly forms of C. japonica; but other camellias thrive equally well, particularly a seven merre high C. reticulata; C. sasanqua; and C. mati/tora. The collection of camellias growing on these islands is being kept up to date by the introduction of newer varieties from many quarters, and by close contact with various members of the International Camellia Society. Recently a collection of New Zealand hybrids was sent by the New Zealand Camellia Society, and a selection of the modern C. retictllata

Isola Bella-Camellia hedges. varieties has been imported from England. One of the earliest members of the International Camellia Society, Me. Henry Cocker, is the botanical and horticultural adviser to the gardens. Both gardens are open to the general public but visits from members of the Society will be particularly welcome -especially in spring when the plants are in full bloom and offer a spectacle which is unique in Europe. There is an excellent service of state­ owned steamers to and from Stresa and Pallanza on the mainland, and from the top portion of the lake which is Swiss territory. Climate and general cultural conditions are, of course ideal for camellias which, on these islands associate so well with equally magnificent specimens 27 of azalea, magnolia and rhododendrons, etc. The soil is completely lime-free, while the gardens enjoy a micro-climate created by the surrounding water, which never freezes, although the nearby mainland may be covered with snow. During severe winters, however, these island gardens often experience a certain amount of frost but the camellias never suffer. Because of transport problems to and from the mainland, bulky stable manure is difficult to use and this is largely substituted by dried blood in powder· form and peat. The many large trees on the islands also ensure an abundance of well decomposed leaf soil for top dressing. The latter operation is particularly important during the long, hot, dry summers as the shallow soil and the surface rooting habit of camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons requires a constant vigil to ensure that the plants. do not dry out. An abundance of water from the lake is available at all times. Now and again one reads of discussions as to whether camellias prefer sun or shade, but in these gardens; where they are planted in such profusion, camellias appear to be equally happy in either position. Their behaviour on the islands, and also on the nearby mainland, where they are also widely planted and which in winter is a great deal colder (the district is only a few miles from Switzerland and almost at the foot of the Alps) also confirms that camellias. are really very hardy plants.

Bellingrath Gardens and its Camellias HARRY F. RYAN, JR.

Alabama U.S.A.

IN 1932, there opened to the public a garden rare in its natural beauty. Trails cut through semi-tropical jungles steeped in the history of the Gulf ., Coast and under trees planted as seeds by the first Spaniards to settle these o shores. Where once roamed the great bulls of Latin bullrings now took shape a dream of Mr. and Mrs. Walter D. Bellingrath. Mr. Bell, as he was. known to thousands, purchased a few acres on the Isle-Aux-Oies (Fowl) River, 20 miles south of Mobile, Alabama,for a fishing camp in 1917.· Little did Mr. Bell or Miss Bessie, his wife, dream that on this site a magnificent estate of 800 acres would memorialise their names. One story, as related by the old timers of BellingrathGardens, is that Mr. Bell loved his fishing and Mrs. Bellingrath loved her garden, hence was .::onceived the idea. The idea of a gardens. at Bellecamp to rival the world famous did not take shape until the year 1927. It was at this time that the Bellingraths made a trip to Europe and visited many of the famous gardens of the Old World. Upon their return to Mobile began the development of the Gardens at their city home which soon became too small for the many 28 29 The pine straw mulch affords a good footing for close viewing. Note the labelling system.

Irrigation system glVIng full coverage of the arboretum. Natural shade is furnished by pines and the paths are grass covered. 30 plants that were collected.. The ove~flowwas removedandi:ransplanted, und~rMrs. BeUingrath's direction to Bellecamp on Fowl River. This was the small beginning of the magnificent BeUingrath Gardens of today:;' . In the :ver~ beginning of the Gardens,huge c~mellia spedime~s, oftenrriore than 100 years old, were planted among the existing. native magnolias, -bays, cedars, hollies, dogwoods, stately pines and venerable moss draped oaks. US,ed extensively in the landscape to complement the c,amellias. are. more than 250,000 azalea bushes many of them .more than 1M years"hld and .ranging from 10 to 15 feet in height and from 20 to 30 feet indiameter.: . In 1956 an idea wasb~rnto add a ,camellia arborertull combining a laifg~ colleCtion of camellias and a beautiful landscape, all "rolled 'into one." . The idea of a collection of camellia varieties was not inconsistent with those of Mr. Bellingrath, who in his later years had .expressed a desire for more, but since the Gardens as originally planned hadbeeri completed and matured, there was no room' for more camellias: A site embradrt,kappro:x:imatefy eight' acres on a gently rolling terrain was selected.. It was a w66Md' area having a cover of yellow pine with undergrowth ofsmafl oaks and scrub palmetto interspersed with dogwood. The soil was sandy a!ld:coIllbi,l1ed with its rolling feature gave perfect surfacedtainage. ThesoilptI~!!yerage~ 5.0 and had a heavy accumulation of.humus from pine and hardwood. .... '. , . A suitable landscape plan was presented to the Board oC DlteC'i:ors encompassing an easy t{ansition and trail connection from the,9ld Gir'deris and the new arboretum. This pJan also had a graceful system of wi l1d'lrig trails that afforded dose-up viewing of the camellias .and enjoyment of a pleasing landscape. Approval was given in August of 1956 and actual work on' clearing the eight acre tract began. ,All undergrowth and hardwood trees except a few specimen dogwoods were c1earedollt and the pine~.were thinned to stand roughly 30 feet apart. A trail system was then staked qut that gave. a pleasing landscape effect and afforded the visitor an opportunity to study growth and bloom characteristics of the many varieties and easy access for equipment. An irrigation system was installedproviding complete coverage of arboretum by large sprinklers spaced 120 feet apart. The first year planting consisted of 300 ten to fifteen year old cutting grown plants and 600 'Professor C. S. Sargent' stumps, i" to 2" caliper. The large plants were carefully balled and burlapped in November and the 'Professor C. S. Sargent' stocks were moved bare rooted in January. Grafting with about 1,000 scions took place in January and February of 195,7 on the understocks moved in with a 97 % take. Plants were spaced at a minimum of twelve feet in beds and six feet from the trails. At first, the plants next to the trails were set at six feet intervals for quicker effect and later thinned to twelve feet to prevent overcrowding. The same space was used for all, regardless of growth habits. The initial plants of the arboretum are now thirteen years old and from five to fifteen feet in height with very excellent foliage and flower quality. The quality of the plants can be laid to the apparent very good shading and protection afforded by the pine trees. The arboretum contains over 1,500 plants with about 650 different cultivars. 31 The original planting was made in the eXisting soil and without any fertilizer additions before planting. No fertilizer was applied during the first year. A liberal mulch of pine needles was applied to ground within beds to help cool soil and furnish better footing for visitors. This pine straw mulch also served to control weed growth and gave a more pleasing effect to the arboretum. This mulch has been maintained since by natural drop from trees. The trails winding through the arboretum are twelve feet wide making access to any section without difficulty for heaving equipment. These trails also serve as paths for visitors, having been sodded with Emerald Zoysia grass for easier walking and pleasing effect. The trails are bordered with Ophiopogon japonicus and sown with rye grass during winter to maintain green colour year round. Two or three applications of fertilizer in spring and early summer are broadcast around each individual plant on the pine needle mulch and well watered in. A mixture of equal parts of cottonseed meal, dolomitic limestone and 8-8-8 with minor elements is used. The plants are not given a high degree of maintenance but allowed to grow naturally as they may be found in their native state. The plants are not pruned in any way so that each variety's particular habit of growth may be observed. Many of the plants which after nine years had outgrown their original allotted space were dug and replanted in the original Gardens as replacements and their spaces in the arboretum replaced with newer varieties. Those camellias that prove unsatisfactory are discarded as poor risks for the average home gardener for this area. The arboretum has been received very enthusiastically by all visitors and during blooming season visitors will spend many hours in comparing plants and blooms. Of course, this was one of the original purposes of the Bellingrath Gardens Camellia Arboretum which was two-fold. The sewnd purpose was to provide the beauty of camellia flowers and the landscape for the enjoyment of all visitors to Bellingrath Gardens.

32 At the Feet of the Master

J. L. BAYLESS, JR. Louisiana U.S.A.

A GREAT American scholar, teacher and president of Williams College, Mark Hopkins, said the ideal teaching situation was a teacher at one end ofa log and a student at the other. At the age of seven I was fortunate enough to be in such a situation with Edward Avery McIlhenny as my teacher and camellias as the subject. Fondly known as Mr. Ned by everyone in this Acadian country, Mr. McIlhenny was one of America's finest naturalists. Largely self-taught, Mr. Ned learned through patient observation of the marvels of both flora and fauna at his birthplace, that lovely island on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, called Avery Island for one of his maternal ancestors. Avery Island abounds in semi-tropical plant life of tremendous variety. Because of a mild climate with rainfall throughout the year, as well as frequent early-morning fogs during the winter and spring, natural vegetation flourishes. Accompanying· this lush vegetation is a myriad of animals and birds on the land and in the air, and an equal variety of fish in the water surrounding Avery Island. Wild deer roam the hills feeding on the dark green leaves of Magnolia grandiftora, the red berries. of holly during the winter, or the beautiful. white blooms of cornus in the early spring. All of these and many other plants that are cultivated in most parts of the world are indigenous at Avery. Alligators loll along the banks of the placid bayous and the man-made ponds where the snowy heron,· or Aigrette,nests. It was the magnificent white plumes that adorn the male of the species during mating season which almost caused the extinction of the Aigrette at the beginning of this century. High fashion demanded that Madame ornament her chapeaux with these plumes. Mr. Ned, seeing these birds fast disappearing, trapped six of them, held them in captivity. throughout one season and then released them. The next season he was rewarded with the return of the six, together with the offspring which they had raised at Avery during the season in captivity. With that encouragement, he had ponds consttucted. There he planted buttonwood trees (Platanus occidentalis), ideal for. the building of nests, and also had constructed "apartments" for the birds. These apartments consisted of stacks of native bamboo placed high above the water on frames so that the Aigrettes could build their nests and raise their young safe from all animal predators. But Mr. Ned's· job was only partially done. It was necessary to protect the birds from their much more greedy human predators. To accomplish 33 A scene in Jungle Gardens.

EDWARD AVERY McILHENNY, surrounded by giant bamboos. 34 this he campaignedtirelessly until he succeeded in h~ving Federal laws passed protecting the Aigrette by making it illegal to sell the beautiful plumes. Thus ended the style of wearing such highly adorned hats and thus began the return of the Aigrette in great quantities to the Louisiana coastland. Now literally millions of them nest at Avery Island every spring. . lam not s~rprised that these lovely birds r~cognised a true friend iq Mt. Ned and have returned every year to nest in the apartments that are still constructed for them there. All of nature seemed to respond to the. kind, gentle, loving ways oJ this great man. Perhaps it was just that he was so quiet and patient-I have seen him sit for hours, hardly moving an eyelash, waiting and watching while some small. animal or bird came closer and closer, gradually realizing that this great hulk of a man was its true friend and would never harm it. He had a bamboo tree-house built. in a large live-oak tree (Quercus virginiana) in his sunken garden. There he would sit and study nature, undisturbed by the busy world around him. Many animals and birds seemed to learn that their· friend was'there almost daily and they would come to visit him. Thereby he was able to acquire a great deal more knowledge of nature than he could from all the text-books in the world. Born at Avery Island on the twenty-ninth of March, 1872, M'sieurNed, as his Cajun and negro playmates soon began to .call him, was a true child of nature. At an early age he learned to hunt and fish with the best of them. He swam in the bayous with the water mocassinsand alligators without fear, hunted deer and black bear in the swamps, duck and geese in the marshes. Soon he became a crack shot with pistol, rifle and shotgun. His fitvourite duck gun in later years was a single-barrel four-ten. The biirrelwas so long that when the butt was placed on the ground beside this six footsix, two­ hundred-and-sixty pound man, the muzzle was level with his shoulder. With this gun he never missed a duck, always politely waiting until after his gue,st had blazed away with both barrels to no avail, then drawing a bead on the fast-disappearing bird and bringing it down. . After two years at Lehigh University he joined Admiral Robert Pearfs first expedition into the Arctic, going as the party's naturalist. Later he headed his own Arctic expedition with the purpose of collecting ornithological specimens. When' he returned to Avery Island, he saw; the need of protecting the waterfowl of Louisiana, especially the migratory birds. Having saved the Aigrette from extinction, he mrned his attention to 'ducks and geese. '. With the help of such world-renowned big 'game hunters as Paul Rainey and Jim Avent, he had the Rockefeller, the Russel Sage and the Ward wildfowl refuges established, covering about one-hundred-and-seventy-five thousand acres of coastal marshland. At the same time, with the help of his many influential friends, he was able to have Federallaws passed protecting all migratory wild fowl in America. When I was fortunate enough to first visit Mr.. Ned, at the age ofsevep, I found him beginning his fabulous collection of camellias.' Near, the fJ:on~ .door of his home I saw my first graftedcamellia plant. Itwas the fa.scillation' ot seeing 'Prince Eugene Napoleon,' 'Sarah Frost,' 'Duchesse de' Cazes,' and several others, all grafted on to a 'Wakanoura' ('Tricolor') that started my interest in camellias. With such a start of rather commonplace varieties, garnered here and there among the neighbouririg plantations, Mr. Ned went 35 on obtaining new varieties, first throughout the south, then from northern greenhouses, then from California, and later from Ghina, Japan and Europe. It is estimated that, with these imports and the many seedlings that he developed, he had well over six-hundred cultivars when he died on the eighth of August, 1949. He brought the first C. sasanqua to this country. I well remember the quiet pride with which he showed me his planting of these along the lake in front of the bronze Buddha, which had been sent to him from New York by two friends. This Buddha was originally created for the Shonfa Temple, northeast of Peking, by order of the Emperor Hui-Tsung (1101-1125). Little did Mr. Ned realise then what a great thing he had done for camellia growers of the south by importing cultivars of C. sascmqua, not only because of their own lovely flowers but also because they would prove to be such a good root-stock for the grafting of the cultivars of C. japonica and C. reticulata. In the 1920s and 1930s Mr. Ned landscaped several hundred acres of hillside at Avery Island, forming what is now known as Jungle Gardens. There he planted thousands of camellias, tens of thousands of azaleas, over sixty species of bamboo, many varieties of palms and numerous exotic plants from the tropics. It was during this period that he developed many new varieties of C. japonica among the most beautiful of which are 'Nina Avery,' named fora cousin; 'Miss Mary,' named, for his wife; 'Mr. Rufus,' named for his brother; 'Allingham,' 'Big Beauty,' 'Mollie Moore Davis,' 'Captain Blood,' 'Dorothy Penick,' 'Florence Stratton,' 'Governor Richard W. Leche,' 'Jacksoni,' 'Melody,' 'Minnie MaddernFiske,' 'Monique Peer,' 'Sieur de Bienville,' and many, many other fine old timers. Although Mr. Ned had given my mother several plants of 'Pope Pius' and 'Sarah Frost,' relatively unknown varieties at that time, when I began to show an interest in camellias, I did not really have much opportunity to study at the feet of the master, the man. who is the real father of the camellia in America, until after I graduated from college in the early 1930s. When I returned to Jefferson Island at that time, Mr. Ned laid out a small camellia garden for me, a garden which has become the nucleus of Rip Van Winkle Gardens, just eight miles across the Louisiana prairie from his famous Jungle Gardens. In my garden he planted such then exotic varieties as 'Hikaru Genji' ('Herme'), 'Jarvis Red,' 'T. K. Variegated,' and 'Duchesse de Cazes.' All of these plants still thrive, particularly one of the latter variety which has attained a height of over thirty feet and a spread of eighteen feet. I attribute the success of these plants, and the many that I ha've planted since, to the excellent advice that he gave me at that time, "Never put a ten dollar plant in a ten cent hole." That is just one of the xnany valuable lessons he taught me. I shall·· always. cherish the many memories that I have of this great naturalist; and I shall always be thankful for the opportunity I had to study and to learn to appreciate nature, and particularly the camellia, at the feet of this great, quiet, gentle lover of nature. No better way can I depict his character than to quote a poem he composed about the Buddha that now looks down from his lotus-leafed throne in the bamboo pagoda that Mr. Ned built for him in lovely Jungle Gardens. 36 BUDDHA SPEAKS Peacefully I rest upon this lagoon's bank as pale green bamboos sway above my throne. Clouds of blossoms soften the sifted light falling golden and misty through the boughs above. Long days of travel brought me from my home, yet I have known No hour of calmer rest. My thoughts are like the swaying Bamboo's crest waved to and fro Above the rippling stream, Clear and blue As from a glorious Dream. E. A. McIhenny.

Camellia Searching - an Unexpected Danger

H. G. HILLIER Hampshire United Kingdom

I WAS enjoying two days in the Mlynany Arboretum Czechoslovakia, and somewhat off the beaten track I was looking at the only plant I had seen in that country of Camellia japonica, when in so-doing I brushed my way through some undergrowth among which I noticed young trees of Rhus verniciflua growing from natural regeneration. About five days had elapsed when a rather irritating rash appeared on my forehead, and within three days I was feeling miserable with a very swollen face; and due to the swelling of the tissues round my eye I had difficulty in seeing. . By this time I had left Czechoslovakia and had joined the Pohsh and Czechoslovak Dendrology Societies in their tour of the leading arboretums of Hungary. Professor Karpati, the leader of the party, noticing my dilemma took me to a clinic where, under his guidance, I was given an injection which within 24 hours made me decide that I was sufficiently well to continue the tour ; prior to the injection I was feeling like taking the next plane home. 37 My general condition became fairly normal and I had more or less forgotten about the poisoning when after being home for three weeks I realised the sight of one eye was affected, and the vision reduced to about. half normal. Ten weeks of treatment passed before the sight was almost right again. Poisoning from Rhus toxicodendron is fairly common and well-known to the medical profession in the Northern States of America, but this kind of poisoning is not generally known elsewhere, and it may be news to some readers that R. verniciflua can be so toxic, and it occurred to me that this word of warning might not be out of place for those gardeners who are not familiar with this poisonous quality of two or three species of rhus, some of which are so attractive in the display of their autumn colour. In defence of rhus I must add that the only species known to me to be avoided are R. toxicodendron, the poison ivy of North America, R. verniciflua, an asiatic species, and possibly the related R. sylvestris: I am not sure about the latter. . One further interesting point is that whilst some twenty years or so ago a member of our staff was quite ill and confined to bed for three weeks with this same poisoning, here at home I have hitherto handled Rhus verniciflua with impunity. Professor Karpati suggested that difference in temperature, and the fact that I may have been perspiring, could have accounted for my susceptibility on this occasion. It is a known fact that if one has a scratch, or otherwise broken skin, one is much more liable to infection.

Camellias in the .Sub-Tropical Climate of New Zealand DOROTHY ALDRIDGE Bay of Plenty New Zealand

NUMBER Three Road, Te Puke, New Zealand, is avery tiny area of the earth's surface but it has a unique potential for growth and productiveness, due·. to the combination of climatic and soil conditions and its leeward situation. . Here citrus in its many varieties, and several sub-tropical fruits such as Feijoa ,sellowiana and Tree Tomatoes, Cyphomandra betacea, both from South America, Passion Fruit, Passiflora duNs (the deep purple-skinned variety) and Chinese Gooseberries, Actinidia chinensis, flourish. Many tons of these fruits are marketed throughout New Zealand from this area alone 38 and Chinese Gooseberries which appear to grow better. here than in. most places are exported to England, America and other overseas .countries. Camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, both deciduous' and' evergreen, grow easily with minimum attention and' the rose thrives although requiring regular spraying. .' This small area is situated near the coast of the Bay of Plenty, so named by Captain James Cook when he sailed north round the East Cape and discovered this bay where the Maoris were so much more friendly a.nd prosperous than those further south. The Bay of"Plenty regi6'n, totalling 7,800 square miles, extends inland to the volcanoes of Tongariro and National Park and this volcanic plate'au has one of the largest and youngest accumulations of rhyolitic rocks in the world. '. The soil in our particular region was formed by the ash from oq.'e of-the volcanic upheavals, known as the Kaharoa ash shower and is comparatively recent in geographic' time. It has a rhyolitic 'pumice sub-soil overlaid with 5-6 inches of greyish-black pumiceous loam which is very friable' and, because of the pumice sub-soil, remarkably free-draining. It is d~fici~nt in phosphate and a first essential for plant gr9wth is its application whkh must also be repeated regularly because ofcJ¢aching. I would like to describe now our climatic, conditions. Our latitude is 37 0 49 1 south. Seville in Spain and Athens in Greece are on the same tatitude in the Northern Hemisphere though becaus,e they are on'a continental land massa~d we are ona fairly small island, this creates different conditions. Rainfall is heavy, 75 to 80 inches being the annual average, but, curiously enough, the number, of days on which rain falls throughout the year is less than in most other parts of the North Island. This being so, it follows that we have very heavy falls of rain, three inches in twenty-four hours being not an uncommon occurrence. This rain comes with the passage of frontal depressions or tropical cyclones from the north and is a warm downfall. Rainfall is spread throughout the year and except for January and February it is practically unknown for there to be, less than 2 or 3 inches in any month. Most times we have 4 to 10 inches. From the west comes the prevailing wind and the region is one of the least windy parts of New Zealand-the spring is usually the windiest time with less wind in the winter than any other season. Gales are infrequent and usually from the N.B. or S.W. Because of the leeward position of the Bay of Plenty we are one of the sunniest, areas in New Zealand, enjoying a yearly average of 2,300 to 2,400 hours of bright sunshine. Summer temperatures are not excessively high, averaging about 73 0 F and "the nights are pleasantly cool at 55-60 0 F, with many heavy dews. . Winter is not long or severe, June, July and August being our coldest months and it is rarely in this orchard area that the air temperature drops below 32 0 Fon more than ten days in the year, and goes below 28 F only once or twice in five or six years, The average temperature is 50~55 0 F. Spring and Autumn bring us day and night temperatures of little variation, 0 being between 55-60 ., 39 The Number Three Road runs off the main East Coast highway at right angles, climbing steadily through orchard and dairying land to the higher slopes where cattle and sheep are run. For sev,;ml miles the land on either side of the road stretches for only 250 yards and then drops down suddenly to bush-clad gullies 250 to 300 feet deep in places. It is on this narrow top area that most of the sub-tropical and citrus orchards are situated, for the cold air flows down to these gullies leaving the land on top almost frost-free. Our orchard is so placed at a height of 400 feet above sea-level, with the land lying. well to the sun and sloping gently to the N.E. with a small stream at the bottom of the 300 foot gully forming the eastern boundary and the road the western. From all these circumstances arises the happy fact that it is very easy to make plants grow here and I hasten to make plain that as a gardener my status is that of an enthusiastic amateur and most ofour camellias are young bushes. . Cuttings root very easily in the open; planted on the shady side of a shrub and covered with a jam-jar for 4-6 weeks, they are well-shaped bushes within two years, flowering usually at four. The cultivars of C. reticulata soon establish with special care and a bush of 'Captain Rawes' bought five years ago by a friend in Te Puke had more than fifty large blooms last season. Their flowering period is shorter than those of Dr. Doak's wonderful hybrids of C. reticulata x C. saluenensis, which flowers from June to the end of August and from an extremely early age.

Following is a list of some varieties growing in our garden: Variety Age Height Width 'Hanafuki' 4y:! years 3' 9" 3' 'Hiryu' 10 years 11' 8' 6" 'Frau Minna Seidel' 5Y:! years 5' 3" 2' 9" 'Otahuhu Beauty' lOy:! years 10' 6' 'Peach Blossom' 5y:! years 7' 5' 6" 'Phyl Doak' 3Y:! years 4' 9" 2' 6" 'Debutante' 5 years 5' 4' 10" 'lady St. Clair' 5 years 6' 3' 6" The autumn flush of growth is just as vigorous as that in spring, and, because of the mild winter, there is barely any dormant period. This is well illustrated in the case of roses where one often has to prune off green leaves in July. lest this tale should make you wish to pack your bag and book your seat on the next plane, let me tell you of the serpent in our Eden. Weeds of every kind flourish just as easily and never cease to grow, even in winter! Insects and fungi also thrive, but so far are not very troublesome where the camellia is concerned. One spray of summer oil for scale and a watchful eye for the roller caterpillar seem all that is necessary for the 40 livestock, so. to speak, and because of the free-draining soil the root disease Phyiophthora cinncwnoni has not appeared. . . Two trees which are, I underst~nd, nearly one hundred ye~rs. old are flourishing still, with no attention, on a near-by property and I understand that Colonel Durrant has been sent flowers for identification. It would be fitting while speaking' of Colon'e1 Durrant to pay tribute to the wonderful stimulus and the help that he and Mrs. Durrant have given to camellia growing in New Zealand. '

Dartington Revisited

HERBERT COWLEY' Devon United Kingdom

YESTERDAY I again went to see the lovely gardens of Dartington Hall. It was about two years since I was there with the International Camellia Society Conference, and a great many more flowering trees and shrubs were now in flower. It was azalea time and a glorious day-someone remarked that it was the first day of summer, and it felt like that. I had never seen the gardens looking more beautiful. The great banks of Rhododendron augustinii seen from afar, were clouds of intense purple blue. Other Rhododendrons were the massive 'Loderi,' 'Penjerrick,' R. cinnabarinum var. roylei, and trees of R. falconeri with countless trusses of large creamy white flowers, while the air was laden with the scene of R. fragrantissimum and other species. But the main purpose of my visit was to pay a closer look at the collection of camellias. On entering the glen from the end further from the Hall, is the upright 'Donation' standing sentinel-like in full dress uniform, clothed from ground level to top in a pyramid of lovely blooms; verily, it has been acclaimed the world's best camellia. Nearby in gleaming white is 'White Swan' and magnificent specimens of 'Elegans.' While lost in admiration of a camellia labelled 'Rubescens Major,' I ventured to approach a gentleman. To my surprise he was none other than Mr. Elmhirst himself, under whose guiding hand the gardens have been brought to their present state of perfectiQn. It was a real joy to talk to one who knew and understood camellias. The variety 'Rubescens Major' has deep rosy-red flowers, about the size and form of 'Elegans,' but with petals more pointed and with lines of deeper hue which, as my host pointed, out, adds to the brilliance of the

Dartington Hall is near Totnes, Devon, England. This article was written by Mr. Herbert Cowley shortly ,before his death. He was the Society's oldest memb,er and for many years he was editor of Gardening Ilhts,tra,ted, at that time one of Britain's leading gardening periodicals. 41 PloOlps. This,. variety has a scintillated radiance that puts even the lovely 'Elegans' in the shade. We passed on to suchattractive varieties as the single '.T. C. Williams' of great quality, 'Hiraethlyn' and 'St. Ewe' with long wide pell-shaped )lmvers;' others to attract attention were the 'old red standbys 'Adolphe" Audusson' and 'Donckelaarii.' Perhaps the most remarkable camellias at Dartington are the large trees of red and white C. sasanqua that had been flowering intermittently since November, several.large: specimens of lIagoromo' and 'Francis Hanger' were noted, also 'Apple Blossom' and a remarkably well flowered bush of C. cuspidata with small white cup~shaped flowers. Some of the large camellias are growing well under and close to the boles of huge elm trees. I know of no other tree or shrub that could possibly thrive in such a situation. Other camellias were pushing up through drifts of bluebells. Dartington is cared fpr by loving hands, and there is an air of friendliness reflected in the staff and in students. Mr. Elmhirst remarked that many thousands of visitors came each. year, but it was very seldom that any damage was reported; such is their faith in human nature. Leaving this stately garden by the gate that leads to the old Parish Church, we paused to look at an even more ancient yew tree. "How old," I asked, "can that tree be?". To which came the reply, "Anything in the region of a thousand years." The ancient yew, now a ghost of its former self, seemed to look down upon me and say, "Yes, little man, I stood here in the days of Alfred the Great." I could well believe it,;and with that profund and ,humiliating thought, I bade adieu to the lovely gardens of Dartington Hall.

Camellias in. Oregon HELEN GORDON WALKER' "!.. j ., , • •

Qregon U.S.A. I

THE Willamette Valley of Oregon is one of the most favoured areas in the Pacific North West for the· cultivation of plants. The Cascade Mountains to the east ,and the Coast Range to the west bound it. It has abundant moisture and moderate temperatures. Temperatures are so largely controlled by maritime air from the Pacific Ocean that long periods of extremely hot or severely cold weather never occur. Maximums of 95 F or higher" have occurred only in the months of June, July, August and September, averaging three days a year. Minimums of 20 F or lower are infrequent, averaging five per' year. The rainfall averages 38 inches, falling mostly between September and June. July and ,August are normally very dry, occasionally 42 passing without rainfall. Situated at the upper or south end of this valley is the city of Eugene. This would seem to be an ideal climate in which to raise camellias, or so thought a number of Eugene business men in the early forties; Thei.r enthusiasm led to the formation of the .Eugene Men's Camellia Society in 1943. Among the charter members were Drs. Carl Phetteplace, Chas. Thompson, Jas. Bradley, W. Barnett, Royal Gick, and Messrs. Marshall Lyons, Del. James, Wm. Riddlesbarger and Merl Saunders. When in 1945 the name was changed. to the Men's Camellia and Rhododendron Society, it became' a chapter of the newly formed American Rhododendron Society.. Although by extending its interests to· include the growing of rhododendrons, its enthusiasm for camellias did not wane. . The members searched far and wide for different varieties, importing them from all avail~ able sources. Several excellent camellia shows were held in the years 1947, 1948 and. 1949~ The latter show was a combined rhododendron and camellia show. It is important to note however, that the chief contributor of camellias by this time was Dr. Gick. •'Soon after he began to raise camellias, he/built three fairly large greenhouses in which to grow his. collection. Here his plants had protection. The blossoms were not injured by rain 'or hot sunshine, and if there was unusually cold weather,' a small amount of heat could be supplied. In contrast, the other members sometimes found themselves plagued by unpredictable weather, as their camellias were being grown mainly in the open. It was discou~agipg to have. proIllising blooms damaged by llntimely rains, or morning frosts' followed by mid­ morning sun darkening' prize blooms.. It began to look as if the outdoor culture of camellias presented too many hazards to be really satisfactory. In addition, the appearance of scale and blossom blight, with the attendant labour anddifficulty of controlling them, were discouraging to even the most enthusiastic. However, the group, in spite of these problems, was very active. They weathered a rather damaging freeze in 1949, which caused a heavy bud drop and some' plant injury. However, in November of 1955, an abrupt unseasonable freeze sent the mercury plummeting to 12 F.'None of the plants were. hardened off so early in the fall, and all those growing outdoors were killed to the ground. Even those in unheated greenhouses were frozen. Most of the members were completely disheartened by this misfortune, and as interest.in rhododeridrons was 'growing, many members turned their attention to the raising of rhododendrons, instead o( camellias. So for a time gardens in this area displayed only the very hardiest of camellias. , . . .. r . . Piant lovers are proverbially·. optimistic, and eventually the tragedy of 1955 was forgotten, and camellias are again finding their way into' many gardens. It is indeed a pity that any plant with such an interesting variety of exquisite plooms should not be widely grown, in spite of certain problems of cult~re and protection. With our increased knowledge of disease and pest control, that aspect of their care can now be handled satisfactorily: .The one continuing problem remains· to be that of adequate protection. . We have attempted to solve this in two ways. We haye found that nature will lend a helping hand if the camellias are planted where the high shade of conifers gives protection from frost,and 43 from the i~jurious effect of morning sun on the cold or wet petals of the blossoms. We also choose a site where they are not exposed to cold winter winds, and where the cold will'drain off, without a barrier to cause it to accumulate in a pocket. With these precautions having been taken, we have found that in any but the most severe, and unusual freeze, hardy well established plants, given proper culture,. will suffer nothing worse than ~)Ccasional bud drop. We have also found that the protection of a covered' lath house is an excellent way to ensure good bloom. In the summer of 1947 we were constructing a small greenhouse for propagation, and a lath house in connecti.on with it. We decided to incorporate in the lath house a small covered area for some of our favourite camellias. This area is 36' x 16' runn~ng east and west; and it is protected on the east by the end of the greenhouse. , The north side is open to the main lath house, and the south and west sidesare completed by 1" x 6" finished lumber, applied vertically and spaced 6" a,part, to a height of 7'. The ridged roof is covered with rigid sheets of corrugated plastic. A. two foot wide cement walk bisects the planting area, and a 15" cement wall runs the length of the south side. A series of half circle Buckner sprinklers on pipe standards were installed along two

Snow Camellias KAORU HAGIYA Niigata Japan

HEARING' the word "camellia," one may picture a scene of flowers and. shining lea.ves in the warm southern sunshine. In fact the cultivation of camellias has become popular only in the milder parts of the world. But after World War II, a camellia quite different from the usual Camellia · japoniea, was found in the mountainous districts in the north of Japan · where' wind and snow are very severe, and this kind was named the snow camellia., Camellia rustieana.. . The name snow camellia may lead one to think mistakenly that it has a . white flower, but the blossoms are, in fact, red of pink in colour and white blossoms are seldom found. Its name means the camellia which grows in .qistricts of heavy snows. " The petals of the wild snow camellia are thin and open flatwayslike those of Camellia Jasanqua. Stamens are yellow, and do not fortn a cylinder but are · divided from each other. Camellia japonieagrows, in time, to a tree but the snow tamelliashoots .. out many twigs from' the part near its roots, and forms a shrub; especially ,in ··snowy mountains its branches creep above the ground and occupy a large area. Because of this the snow camellia has.' another name, "Creeping ,. camellii"As this shrubby shape does not change, even if it is planted in

Reprinted by permission of the Editor of Amateur Garwiming. . . 45 The snow-camellias are dwarfish with many leaves and branches and spreading over several metres.

'Benichoji.' Red. 7 -8 em. in diameter and 3.5 em. in depth. Anemone form. Central petalolds variegated or self with inconspicuous yellow stamens intermixed. Some flowers are peony with numerous petaloids and stamens. Dwarfish and compact growth.

46 flat countries without snow, it is shapely when it is planted in the garden or grown in a pot with branches appearing low down. .. The branches ofthe snow camellia are. very pliant and not easily'broked by bending. When it snows heavily, they are forceddown.beneath the snow, but when spring comes and the snow thaws, they rise up again. Further, ,it is not completely uprooted by a snowslip. What a subtle adapta1J~e character this is. This pliability is very convenient for flower arrangements and bonsai. '. .', .. ­ One m:igllt imagine that. the snow camelli~ is proof ag~inst cold, b~t the results of experiments using low temperatures in my laboratory show that the snow camellia is practically equal with Camellia japonica with refer~ce to resistance against cold. I think that the snow camellia is protectedag;iinst the very cold weather by the snow which covers it. " Cuttings root. very well and the growth of roots is excellent even i~ 'the flowering time in spring. This fact is .proveclbya large-scale experiment carried out in my laboratory, using over 400 strains of both snow:..camellia and Camellia japonica. In its natural state the snow .camellia roots to the ground from creeping branches. .., The snow camellia sprouts six weeks earlier than Camellia japonica in spring and has beautiful new shoots by the time of flowering. Although this is generally later than that of C. sasanqua and C. japonica, yet its seeds mature a little earlier than that of C. japonica. Camellias generally drop their blossoms easily, but the blossoms of the snow camellia last long and it has many blossoms at the same time, so. that the whole bush looks really red. We.can control the time of flow.ering because its buds and leaves, too, do not drop easily. When His Majesty the Emperor came to the University of Niigata in 1964, we showed him flowers of snow camellias. At that time, we had cut off branches with tight shut buds in .April and had kept them instoreat O°e. (32F.) in refrigerators, anqthen let them blossom by keeping the temperature at 25°e, (77F.) for one week. Using these methods we can delay their blooming for three months in the case of cUt flowers and much lOnger in pots.. As we can control its bloom freely by temperature we can have a much ..' loriger flowering time in comparison with that of usual camellias. In the Hokuriku district of Japan c. japonica is distributed in the plains along the coast and the snow camellia in the mountainous districts; a hybrid camellia between these two species is distributed in the middle district, assuming an intermediate form. Because camellias grow without cultivation throughout the areas,no! much attention is paid to them. But sometimes beautiful camellias, originating from the wild snow tamellias are cultivated in the gardens of farmhouses and shrines or temples. As most of these are derived from wild camellias, which farmers 'have dug up while' they were working in their fields, they have no particular names. . In my laboratory we have investigated and collected these camelliad for the past seven years and, as a result, the number of. kinds oh;n0w-camelHa that are valuable for the garden already . exceed 1,500. This 'humbet,· is extraordinary when one considers that the varieties of the :usual Japanese '47 camellia total about 400. Furthermore, these kinds of snow camellia not only cover all the floral shapes ever known, such as single, semi-double, anemone, peony, rose, double and so on, but also have some particular floral shapes that are not to be found in the present classified table. In size of blossoms, there are many kinds from one inch to over five inches in diameter. The colour range is also wide and includes white, pink, crimson, red, black, purple and variegation. ' 'lne resistan.ce to cold of the snow cameliia fell short of our expectation but, as it is very, varied and has excellent features from the ecological point of view, it has a high, horticulture value. Even in its present state, without any artificial improvement-as a'result of breeding-I think it will have an epoch-making' role in the field of camellia breeding. It is little known yet, even in Japan, and the mass production has not yet got under way. Because the snow camellia is very strong, the usual methods of cultivation for camellias will be satisfactory, but it is not suitable for dry soil as it .likes dampness arid has a shallow root system., It is a little more difficult to transplant than C. japonica. The reason, I think, is that it does not drop its 'leaves even if it gets dry and, as a result, the leaves continue to transpire~ Therefore, when transplanting, prune it rather drastically.

'Camellia Names of Australian Origin Validly Published from January 1st"1959, to December 31st, 1965 E. G. WATERHOUSE New South Wales Australia

.The International code of nomenclature for cultivated plants lays down certain extra requirements concerning the valid publication of cultivarnames after 1 January, 1959. For valid publication the printed or similarly duplicated matter containing the new cultivar name must be clearly, dated,' at least as, to year. The publication of a cultivar name must be accompanied by a description or reference to previously published description. In addition the cultivar name must fulfil all other articles of the code. . ,. This ,list of camellias validly published in Australia over a period of six years is the first ofa series of nomenclature lists which will appear in the International Camellia Journal. 48 'Alice' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.5, "P.S.M.M." (Code letters for Pink, Single, Medium, Midseason). Labelled plant in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, said to 'have been named by W. R. Guilfoyle, a former Director, for his wife. 'BarbataMary' . Eagle EIeights,l965, p.9,·"colour blush pink. A beautiful large peony " form flower. with delicate scent... Early to midseason." This is a. seedling from'Cho Cho San' raised by E. G. Waterhouse and given to Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights, N.S. Wales. 'Barbara Witten' Registered by Australian Camellia Research Society, Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.26. A chance seedling from 'The Czar,' raised by Mrs. K V. Rosenhain, 62 Hawthorn Grove, Hawthorn, Victoria. A vigorous grower with slightly pendulous habit. First bloomed 1960. Incomplete double, 4t inches in diameter, colour carmine H.c.c. 2,1/1, veined -H.c.c. 21.· Midseason· to late. Leaves mid-green, ovate, long point, . sharp serrations, 3 inches long, 1~ inches wide. 'Beatrice Hooper' AC.R.S. Cdmellia Annual, Vol. 1, No.6, 1960, p;21. Formal double (opening to informal) white with golden anthers. Habit of growth . compact and spreading. Parentage unknown. Raised by G. Hooper, Bexley North, N.S. Wales. ­ 'Bells' E{Jgle Heights, 1965, p.12, under Camellia williamsii, "Single, 5 petals, moderately elongated flower. .Mauvy pink in colour. Vigorous bushy .. '. 'growth makes;it anideill specimen for hedge planting; By far the heaviest foliage of all the williamsii. Heavy flowering forlong period." Raised by E. G.Waterhouse and given to Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights, N.S. Wales. 'Beryl Hebiton' 1. Outteridge, 1962,- 1'.5, "P.ID.L.M." (Pink, Informal Double, Large, M:idseason).Registered by AC.R.S. Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.24. Chance seedling raised by W. Hebiton, Floreat Park, Western Australia. First bloomed in' 1958. Incomplete double flower 4 to. 4t inches in . diameter.' Colour blush pink with narrow pink stripes and dots. Early to midseasonbloomer. Leaves. ovate, medium sized and pointed. Vigorous, upright habit of growth. . 'Betty Arnott' ACR.S. Camellia News, Dec., 1962, p.27. Seedling raised by G. S. Arnott, 2' Beddoe Avenue, East Brighton,' Victoria. 'Magnoliiflora' x 'Spencer's Pink.' First flowered in 1961. Early bloomer. Single white with eight to nine petals. Flowers four inches in diameter.. Habit of growth pendulous, vigour medium. Leaves 4 x 2 inches, pointed, with medium s.errations. 49 'Betty Cuthbert' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.6. "P.lD.1.1." (Pink, Informal Double, Large, Late). Seedling from 'Yoibijin' which originated in the garden ot E. G. Waterhouse, Gordon, N.S.Wales, and first bloomed in 1960. Informal double, often opening from a formal double, four inches in diameter, with between 20 and 30 petals, and some petaloids. Colour Neyron Rose 623/3, early to midseason bloomer. Medium, spreading habit of growth ) with large, broad, dark green leaves. Colour photo on back cover of A.CR.S. Camellia News, No. 16, Dec., 1964. Registered by ACR.S., Dec., 1964,p.28. 'Calder's Treasure' Northern California Camellia Bulletin, Vol. 16, No.1, Nov., 1962, p.13, "a fine new pink.", Obtained by John Calder of Elsternwick, Victoria, as 'Elegans,' but appears to be a new variety. 'CanCan', 'A.CR.S. Camellia. News, Dec., 1961"p.25. Registered No. 46 by the . ;A.CR.S. ,A sport of 'Lady Loch,' originated at Camellia Grove Nursery, St. Ives, N.S.W., in 1956. Strong upright grower similar to the parent except for the colour of the flower. Petals soft rose, veined deeper rose showing pale pink striations at base, occasionally (usually small) bright rose s,plashes and irregular, very pale pink to white bordering, edged by nilfrOW band of bright rose. Central petals fl uted and swirled amongst off-white edged rose petaloids and comparatively inconspicuous stamens. The general colour of the flower is light silvery-pink. 'Candy Stripe' Eagle Heights, 1965, p.9. "Single white background with red stripes and flecks: Scented flowers. Compact bushy growth. A seedling of 'Dods Tagg.' Origin<1ted by E. G. Waterhouse, Gordon, N.S. Wales, ,and given to Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights, who named it. ,'Cardirtia' ACR.S. Camellia News, No.8, Dec., 1962, p.27, erroneously spelled "Cardenia," but later officially corrected to 'Cardinia' in Camellia News, No. 12, Dec., 1963, p:26~Raised by F. S. Tuckfield, Manuka Road, Berwick, Victoria. A seedling of 'Hikarugenji,' pollen parent unknown. "'-,':: First flowered 1959.' Medium to late bloomer. Incomplete double with \ an attractive sheen on the petals; Inner petals and large petaloids very ~ erect with numerous stamens intermingled. Colour blood-red H,CC 820/1. Flower 3t to 4 inches in diameter and 2 to 2t inches high. . Leaves narrow, elliptic, 4 x 2 inches, dark glossy green. Plant vigorous, upright and bushy. Registered by ACR.S. in 1962. 'Carillon' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.6. "WR.S.1.M." (White and Red, Single, Large, "Midseason). Seedling of unknown parentage. Raised by E. G. '. Waterhouse 'Catherine Stimson' Registered No. 67 by the ACR.S., Camellia News, No. 16, Dec., 1964, p.28. A chance seedling of W. A. Stimson, 3 Oakland Avenue, 50 Cheltenham, N.S.W. First bloomed in 1956. Semi-double crimson flow~rs, five' inches in diameter and borne in profusion for most of the season. Habit upright and dense. Dark green leaves 3t inches long and 2 inches broad, apices sharply pointed. 'Chatles Colbert' New Zealaf!c,i Camellia Bulletin, July 1959, p.13. A, C. x williamsii raised by E.. G. Waterhouse, Gordon, N.S.W.,"medium sized semi­ double of amaranth rose and having cupped or in,cLlrved petals." 'Churston' , Registered No. 62 by the ACR.S., Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.26. A seedling of unknown parentage raised by Mrs. J. Ringland Anderson, 5, Linlithgow Road, Toorak, Victoria. Bushy, spreading "and vigorous. First bloomed 1958. Flower single with 8 or 9 crimped and wavc::d petals, slightly cupped. Colour pale pink ground minutely speckled and unevenly striped carmine rose; 4 to 4t inches in diameter. Leaves glo'ssy dark green, elliptical, shallow serrations, twisted fluted appearance, 4 inches long, 21 inches wide. 'Corroboree' Eagle Heights, 1962 (pages not numbered). Misspelt Corroborree. Attractive semi-double white with crimson stripes and golden stamens. Seedling of 'Tricolor.' Raised by E. G. Waterhouse and given to Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights, N.S.W. 'Daintrie Sievers' Camellia Nomenclature, 1962, p.31, with double misspelling :'Daintree Seivers.", Raised. by K Brushfield at "Kewita," Somersby, N.S.W., and first correctly given as 'Daintrie Sievers: by Hazlewood, 1964, p.51: "A large informal double, clear pink.Lilce 'Ann Miller',and 'Emily Wilson,' but, superior to both, in size, colour, substance and formation.' Late." Camellia NiJrrzenclature, 1964, id7, corrects its previous: misspelling to . Siever~ but retainspa,intree and desci:ibes the camellia as "Clear pink. Large anemone form,' with high centre of intermingled large petals, petaloids and stamens. L(Aus. 1959, Brushfield)." Corrected in later editions and description amended to "Clear pink. Medium, loose peony form. L.(Aus. 1964, Brushfield)." 'DelRio' Registered by the ACR.S., Camellia Annual, Feb., 1960, p.2L Raised by G. Hooper, Bexley North, N.S. ,Wales. Parentage unknown. Informal double, confused centre. Colour light rose and crimson: Candy striped, with large petaloids and slight perfume. U1?right and vigorous.. 'Dorian' , Registered No. 44 by the ACR.S., Camellia Annual, Dec., 1960, p.23. Raised by H. J. Henty, 43 Yerrin Street, Balwyn, Victoria. A seedling from 'Esther'Henty.'First bloomed August, 1955. The bloom is informal double, softpink with a faint salmon pink tone. Yor 6 rows of petals. Outer petills curve up and outward, the inner petals 'slightly twisted and standing more erect, giving the bloom 'a somewhat 'hose in hose' effect." The centre :is composed of bent gold-tipped stamens 51 intermixed with odd petaloids and small petals brushed with white towards the base, diameter 3t to 4l inches. Growth vigorous and spreading. Foliage mid green, not shining. Leaves 3~ x 2 inches- well serrated and pointed. . 'Doris Hirst' Registered No. 45 ACR.S., Camellia News, No.4, Dec., 1961, p.24. Raised by W. Neville, gardener to Mrs. Hirst, "Pine Ridge," Castle Hill, N.S. Wales. Seedling of 'Gauntlettii' (Sodegakushi),pollen parent unknown. First bloomed 1958. The blooms are irregular double, pure white and 5 inches in diameter. Midseason. Leaves are large glossy , green like those of parent. 'Dorothy Smith' , L. Outteridge, 1962, p.17. "PR.ID.M.VE." (Pink and Ited,Informal double, Medium size, Very early). A seedling from unknown parentage. The tree about 18 feet high: Itwas planted atWol1ongbar, N.S.W., late in the last century by Mr. Smith.. 'Deetenne' L. Outteridge, 1962, p.7. Misspelt "Deeten"; "RW.S.L.MY (Red and White, Single, Large, Midseason). Grown from a stock plant in Taylor & Sangster'~ old nursery at Mount Macedon, Victoria. 'Early Prince' ACR.S., Camellia Annual, Dec., 1960, pp.19-20. Name given to the early flowering "Prince Frederick William." 'Edna Parkes' . . Registered No.. 48 by ACR.S., Camellia Annual,Dec., 1961, p.25. Raised by Mrs. Edna Parkes, 22 Wrexon Avenue, EastI}entleigh, Victoria. Thought to be a seedling of 'The Czar.' Fitst bloomed 1960. Incomplete double flowers .with petaloids and many stamens interwoven. Rose colour with petals lightly veined carmine. Flowers 4 inches in diameter. Upright and vigorous growth. Bloorm midseason to late. 'Elizabeth Bay' L. Outtetidge~ 1962, p.8. "W.ID.M.M."(White, Informal double, Medium size, Midseason). Colour description is erroneous as the flower is rose, mottled white. Name used for a very old camellia at Elizabeth Bay, Sydney. 'Ellie Rubensohn' . ACR.S., Camellia News, Dec., 1963,pp.4-7, with ful1 page colour plate, Registered No; 65 ACR.S., Camellia News, Dec.,' 1964, p.28... Seedling. from C. reiiculata 'Crimson Robe' x C. reticulata 'Purple Gown' originated by Sim .Robensohn, Kelvin Park, Dural, N.S. Wales.· Seed sown 1959, first bloom 1963. Flower 6t inches in diameter. and3t inches deep, with 26 prominently undulating petals. Colour rosy crimson. The stamens are 1t inches long and cov:ered, by inner petals and odd smal1 petaloids withcrearpy white qlarking at. thetips. .Leaves 4t inches long by It to 2 inches. broad, tapered, and with. wide prominent serrations. Habit of growth upright and spreading. 52 'EmmyRoos' ACR.S.; Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.26, registered as No. 60. Raised by Mrs. E. Roos, 22 Fourth Avenue, Lane Cove, N.S.W. Seedling from 'Constance,' pollen parent 'Lady Loch.' Upright vigorous grower, producing a pink informal' double flower 4t inches in diameter. Midseason to late. Very floriferous. Medium sized dark green leaves. 'Erica McMinn' Ctltmellia Lodge Nursery, 1964, pA. Raised by Dr. C R. Merrillees, 'Teringa' x 'Magnoliiflora.' Small to medium size pale blush pink fadlhg to silvery pink. Formal double with numerous rows of attractive fluted petals surrounding a central cone of smaller petaloids. Compact, rllick bushy growth, with glossy, prominently veined and attractive foliage. Midseason. Registered No. 70 by the A.CR.S. in 1965. 'Erica Sievers' Camellia Nomenclat'lM'e, 1962, pAO (misspelt as "Erica Seivers"). "Deep rose. Large semi-double with large heavily veined petals. M-L." 1. .Outtetidge, 1962, p.26, misspelt as "Erica Seivers," P.SD.1.M. (Code letters for Pink, Semi-double, Large, Midseason). Ctltmellia Nomenclature, 1964, pA8, correctly spent as "Erica Sievers,' <;lescription as in 1962 and with addition "(Aus. 1959-Brushfield)." This camellia was raised by Mr. Brushfield, of "Kewita," Somersby, N.S. Wales, and named for Erica Sievers. 'Ethel Ross' Registered No. 49 by the A.CR.S., Camellia News, Dec., 1962, p.27. Raised by H J. Henty, 43 Yerrin Street, Balwyn, Victoria. Seedling of 'Esther Henty,' pollen parent unknown. First bloomed 1960. Incomplete double with two rows of wavy· outer petals and smaller petals and petaloids towards the centre. Colour pale pink. H<::.C 427/2 to 427/3. Size of bloom 4! inches. Vigorous grower with broadly oval deeply serrated, sharply pointed and prominently veined leaves. Its wavy petals give it a decorative appearance. 'Farfalla' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.9. "P.S.M.M." (Pink, Single, Medium, Midseason). A C. willitltmsii, raised by E. G. Waterhouse. 'Frances Hill' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.9. "PJD.1.M." (Pink, Informal double, Large, Midseason).. A seedling originated by Mrs. Frances Hill, Heydon AvenJle, Warrawee, N.S. Wales. Came up next to 'Lady St. Clair' and has the light pink colour and foliage characteristic of this camellia. 'Gay Marmee' New Zealand Camelltia Bulletin, Nov., 1959, p.18. Camellia Lodge, 1961"p.14.. Raised by Mrs. Sayce, North Balwyn, Victoria. Parentage unknown. Theflower,is very like 'Peach Blossom' but a shade lighter in colour and larger. The flowers appear down the stem. Good grower. Early to Midseason. 'Gwenneth Morey' . A.CR.S., N,S.W. Branch Newsletter, Qct., 19(>3, p.5. ". "A white seedling 'with yellowish centre.", .', H~zlewood Nursery, '1964, p.5 L "About 10 white oute!; petals surround a mound of deep cream to primrose yellow petaloids. It is the nearest to a yellow ,camellia we have seen and the colour is in no way due to the stamens of which there are only a few. Has a deeper colour when grown in sunlight." Raised by Dr. B. R. Morey, Carlingford, N.S.Wales, and named for his wife. Registration No. 898, American Camellia Yearbook, 1966. 'Helen Calcutt' Registered No. 42, by A.<;:.R.S., Camellia' Annual, Dec., '1960, p.23; Seedling of unknown parentage which originated at "Kewita," Somersby, N.S. Wales, and first flowered in 1952. Flowers single to semi·double, 4t to 5 inches in diameter, with 8-10 petals, the centre consisting of a cylinder of stamens with an occasional petaloid. Colour white with pink and carmine stripes. Habit •upright and open. The variety has produeed two sports; a self-coloured carmine and a pink with white

edging and an occasional carmine stripe. "I'

'Hemalata~ Registered No. 63, by the A.CR.S., Camellia News, Dec., 1964, p.28. A chance seedling from the nursery of A. Nightingale, Emerald, Victoria, grown by Mrs; Jackel, of Wangaratta; Victoria. First bloomed 1937. Flower incomplete double, 4 to 5 inches in diameter. ColoJ.lr bright cerise, early to midseason bloomer, very floriferous, vigorous, slightly pendulous habit. Leaves medium.green in colour, 3t to 4 inches long, and It to 2 inches broad. ',,! 'Henry Price' The Rhododendron and Camellia Year Book, 1965, p.59. Large formal double, deep crimson. Seedling from 'Great Eastern,"- raised by E. G. Waterhouse. I' . '" 'Ice Queen' Eagle Heights, 1965, p.10. Pure white seedling, raised from seed of 'Gigantea Alba'· sent from U.S.A ", Semi-double with bright yellow stamens. Compact bushy, growth. Midseason. ',,' 'Jennifer Turnbull' Registered by A.CR.S., Camellia Annual, Feb., 1960, p.2L Raised by .Mrs. Hume Turnbull, Malvern," Victoria. A· seedling from' 'Henry Turnbull' and resembling its grandparent 'Spencer's Pink.' Bushy, spreading, vigorous habit. Single, shell pink, 4-4t inches in diameter. Early and prolific. Flowers retain their clear colour much longer thari' ~Spencer's Pink' and growth is much stronger. . 'Jeune Fille' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.lO.':W.SD.M.E." (White, Semi-double, Medium size, Early). A seedling of 'Party Girl,' raised by H. K. C. Dettmann, Ada Avenue, Wahroonga, N.S.W. 54 'John Swan' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.lO. "W.SD.M.M:' (White, Semi-double, Medium size, Midseason). Raised by Alexander Hunter. . 'Julia's Wish' Registered No. 66, ACR.S., Camellia Ne~s, Dec., 1964, p.28. Seedling raised by J. C Scott Waine, Brentwood Avenue, Warrawee, N.S. Wales. First bloomed in 1963 producing informal double flowers four inches in diameter. Colour white with occasional pink fleck. Midseason to late bloqmer. Dense habit of growth, with large, oval, dark green leaves. 'Killara' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.1l. "P.ID.M1.M." (Pink, Informal double, Medium large, Midseason). Raised by G. Clinton, Somersby, N.S. Wales. Parentage unknown. 'Kurrajong' Registered by ACR.S., Camellia Annual, Feb., 1960, p.2l. Raised by E. G. Waterhouse, Gordon, N.S. Wales, and grown by Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights. Seedling from 'Great Eastern.' Formal double, creamy white. Midseason to late bloomer with four inch flowers. Foliage resembles that of 'Great Eastern: Vigorous. 'Leda Rosea' Hazlewood Nurseries, 1963, p.52. A pink sport of 'Leda: Formal dou,ble, medium size. Midseason to late. 'Lady's Maid' EagleHeights, 1962. "One of ProfeSsor E. G. Waterhous~.'s C. williamsii hybrids. Semi-double fuchsia pink. A free flowering attractive variety:' 'Lavendel' 1.0utteridge, 1962, p.1l. "P.FD.1.M." (Purple, Formal double, Large, Midseason). Purple sport of 'Comtesse Woronzoff: This name is a synonym of 'Purple Woronzoff: A.CS. Yearbook, 1955, p.27. 'Lilian Burgess' Seedling from C. 'Odoratissima,' pollen parent unknown. Raised by Mrs. Peggy 1. Waring, 138 Kenmore Road, Kenmore, Queensland. Registered No. 69 by the ACR.S., Oct. 1st, 1965. Flower incomplete double, 4 inches in diameter, colour white striped and splashed with deep pink. It has perfume. The plant is vigorous, with upright open habit. Leaves dark green, elliptical, with sharply pointed apex. Prolific bloomer. Midseason. 'Lilian Ricketts' Camellia Nomenclature, 1960, p.73. 'Lillian Ricketts: Blush Pink. Very large, semi-double with recurvedpetals. M. Raised by W. Ricketts, of Melbourne, who stated in a letter to Walter Hazlewood, 30/3/59: "The female parent was 'Magnoliiflora,' the male 'Gauntlettii.' Colour delicate pale pink, petals arranged ina double row round a close bunch of yellow stamens arranged like those of 'The Czar: Petals all have 55 recurved appearance like those of reticulata. Bloom is o~e that opens wide similar in form to the way 'The Czar' blooms open. Bloom 5i inches in diameter. . 'Margaret Davis' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.12. "WP.ID.1.M." (White and Pink, Informal double, Large, Midseason). Registered No. 54, ACR.S. CiWnellia News, Dec., 1963, p.24. Applicant Mr. A M. Davis, 54 Cowdroy Avenue, Cammeray, N.S. Wales. A sport of 'Aspasia' which originated in 1958. Typical Aspasia' flower form, but colour cream with petals brilliantly edged with rose in the manner of azalea 'Albert and Elizabeth.' 'Marie Raven' Registered No. 43 by ACR.S., Camellia Annual, Dec., 1960, p.23. A seedling in Mr. Raven's garden, 23 Hughes Street, Tecoma, Victoria. Seed parent thought to be 'Spencer's Pink.' First flowered 1957. Incomplete double, soft pastel pink, 4 to 4t inches in diameter, very prominent cluster of petals and petaloids tipped stamens flaring out from' narrow base. Sepals medium green, slightly tipped tan. Buds rounded. Leaf, rounded form, 3 to 3t inches long and 2t inches in diameter. Dark green, glossy, sharp apices, rounded base, medium serrations, slightly reflexed along length. Growth tall and bushy. 'Marion Darsow' Camellia Nomenclature, 1964, p.62: "Marion Darsow, Dark Red. Miniature formal double, medium upright growth (U.S., 1958)." This is of Australian origin and not U.S. origin. It was a chance see<;lling raised by G. CLinton, "Kewita," Somersby, N.S. Wales, and has not been distributed in Australia. . 'Mary Treacey' Registered No. 59, by the A.R.CS., Camellia News,. Dec., 1%3, p,25. Applicant: John W. Treacey, 15 Stevenson Street, Kew, Victoria. A chance seedling which originated in 1956 and first bloomed in 1962. Flowers semi-double, 4 inches in diameter, colour deep pink. Midseason to late. Leaves 4 inches long, 2t inches wide, pointed, slightly serrated. Habit vigorous and rather pendulous. 'Max Cotton' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p;12: "R.FD.M.M." (Red, Formal double, Medium size, Midseason). Compact habit. Grown by Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights, N.S.W. Origin uncertain. 'Melbourne White' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.12. "W.SD.M.M." (White, Semj:double, Medium size,Midseason). This is here given as semi-double erroneously instead of sip.gle. This is not a new camellia but merely a synonym of the name "White Melbourne" given to it by Camellia Grove, 1949-1950, p.19. "Open bell-shaped pure single white with bright gold stamens. Decorative, floriferous and hardy." The original plant is in the Director's residence, Melbourne Botanic Gardens.. 56 'Montrose' L. Outteridge, 1962, p.B, "W.FD.L.M." (White, Formal double, Large, Midseason). Temporary name for an old plant at Montrose, Victoria. 'Moonflower' L. Outteridge, 1962, p.B, "W.S.L.M." (White, Single, Large, Midseason). Seedling from 'Sodegakushi,' raised by E. G. Waterhouse. The bloom is rather like a single white magnolia. 'Mountain View' L. Outteridge, 1962, p.B, "W.ID.L.M." (White, Informal double, Large, Midseason). Seedling of 'Sodegakushi.' Namedby Gordon Waterhous'e, Kurajong Heights, N.S.W. 'Myrtiflora' Hazlewood Nurseries, 1%2, p.32. Mistake for 'Myrtifolia' corrected in Camellia News, March, 1963, p.10. This "Myrtifolia" is the deeper sport of 'Cup of Beauty' and is not the 'Myrtifolia' of the early literature. Its name should be changed. 'Narara' A.CR.S., Camellia Annual, Feb., 1960, p.27. "Loose, informal double white. Good clean colour and floriferous. Early." This was a chance seedling growing in a cottage garden at Narara, N.S. Wales. 'Narellan' L. Outteridge,J962, p.B. "W.DCVL.M." (White, Double Centre, Very Large, Midseason). Name applied to an old camellia at Camden Park. 'Newington' A.CR.S., Camellia Annual, 1960, p.22. "Brilliant scarlet with conf.used centre, free blooming and early.", Name given to an old plant near Newington College, Stanmore, N.S. Wales. 'Party Girl' L. Outteridge, 1962, p.14. "P.SD.L.L." (Pink, Semi-double, Large, Late). It has a distinct fragrance. Raised by H. K. C Dettmann, Ada Avenue, Wahroonga, N.S:W. 'Pink Elegance' Gambles (1948), p.8: "A single pink of great beauty with golden stamens. A prolific bloomer." The original plant is a seedling growing in Rookwood Cemetery, N.S.W. 'Pink Tulip' L. Outteridge, 1962, p.14. "P.S.M.M." (Pink, Single, Medium, Midseason). A C. williamsii hybrid. Single, pink, tulip shape. Flowers terminal. 'Puck' Eagle Heigbts, 1965, p.ll: "Small deep red single, similar in colour to 'Moshio' when first open. Very attractive pointed bud. Vigorous, bushy, spreading growth." Seedling grown by Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights, N.S. Wales. Parentage unknown. 57 'Red Moon' . Eagle H{iights, 1965, p.1l. Semi-double deep rose red with petaloids. ..:" A very flat flower. Free flowering,midseason. Vigorous, compact growth makes a very shapely plant. Seedling from 'Andromeda.' Raised by E. G. Waterhouse and grown by Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights,N.S. Wales.

'Rubescens Major Variegated' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.15, as "Rubescens var." "RW.FD.1.l." (Red and White, Formal double, large, late). This is the variegated form of 'Rubescens'Major' and not of 'Rubescens' (low). Tllerefore the name should be 'Rubescens Major Variegated.'

'Sainty's Special' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.15. "W.ID.Vl.M." (White, Informal double, Very large, Midseason). The name given to an old camellia growing at .Pymble; N.S. Wales.

. 'Satan's Satin' HazletiJood Nurseries, Whole,sale Catalogue, 1%5, p.25. Raised by David 1. Feathers, lafayette, California, who described it as "a very ititeresting seedling, parentage unknown, that is notable for the brilliance of its red colour and the sheen the flower possesses.' It blooms fairly early over a long period and is an 'eyecatcher' in the garden although a single flower."

'Sayonara' Eagle Heights, 1965, p.B. C. williamsii raised by E. G. Waterhouse­ semi-double, similar in form to 'Margaret Waterhouse' but darker pink shading and a much bushier plant.

'Sharon Ann Wylie' . Seedling from 'Great Eastern,' pollen parent unknown. Originator Percy A 'Wylie, 126 Park Road, Dundas, N.S.W. Registered No. 68 by theA.~es., October 1st, 1965. The flowers are 3'to 3t inches in diameter, white, informal double type. leaves:H inches long by 1t inches wide,dark green, elliptical and pointed at the apex. The plant .. . is vigorous, upright, compact in growth and a very early bloomer.

f,' 'Sheridan' . Eagle Heights, 1965, p.7. "Trumpet shaped single rose red with bluish veining. Midseason. Compact columnar growth." This is a seedling which originated at Ballarat, Victoria. 'Sleigh Bells' . Registered No. 47 by the A.eR.S., Camtillia News, Dec., 1961, p.25. A seedling of 'Peach Blossom' raised by J. R. Williams, 15 Kissing Point Road, Turramurra, N.S. Wales. Male parent unknown. Semi-double, ,similar shape ro 'Peach Blossom,' white, small to medium sized flowers. Midseason to late. Habit, upright and bushy, medium vigour. 58 ·St.Ives' Eagle Heigbts, 1962 (pages not numbered). Large, informal double, petals loosely arranged and interspersed with dots and spots of carmine. Raised by Ii G. Waterhouse, parentage unknown. 'Southern Star' Eagle Heights, 1965, p.12. Single to semi-double deep rose pink. Very similar in colour to 'Edith Linton.' Starlike arrangements of petals. Vigorous. bushy growth. Seedling of unknown parentage grown by Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajong Heights, N.S. Wales. 'Susan Elsom' Registered No. 58 by ACR.S.; Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.25. Applicant A W. Jessep, 29 Adelaide Street, Malvern, VictOria. A chance seedling of 'Berenice Boddy:' Seed sown in 1957, plant bloomed in 1961. Semi to incomplete double, 5 to 5! inches in diameter, colour bright scarlet. Blooms early and long. Vigorous, upright plant. Leaves dark green, 5 inches. long by 2! to 3 inches wide, lanceolate, with 9 or 10 serrations per inch of leaf edge.

~Sylphide' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.16. "PJD.M1.M." (Pink, Informal double, Medium Large, Midseason). Seedling of 'Sodegakushi' grown by· Gordon Waterhouse, Kurrajorig Heights, N.S. Wales. 'Tahiti' Eagle Heigbts, 1965, p.12. "Bright red single, with splayed stamens. Upright vigorous growth.·. Early.'.' Seedling from 'Somersblraised by E. G .. Waterhouse and grown by Gordon Waterhouse, Klirrajong Heights, N.S. Wales. ··Tatter~' . . .. ,. 1. putterldge,l9<52, p.16. "W.lD.M.M." (White, Informal double, Medium, Midseasoq). C. willidtfnsii rather likeil miniature 'Crinkles,' raised by E. G. Waterhouse. . 'The Czar Variegated' Camellia Lodge, 1960, given as "The Czar variegata" in later catalogues . corrected to 'The Czar Variegated.' Variegated form of 'The Czar.' .~~. .. C. x williamsii 'Tiptoe.'Seedling from C. x williamfii 'Farfalla' (SS.12) planted 'in 1958 and first flowered in 1961. Registered No. 71 by the ACR.S., Dec. 1st, 1965. The flower is semi-double, 3 to 3! inches in diameter, of a soft silvery pink deepening to a gay cherry-pink at the tips of the petals. The leaves are medium to small, deep green and broader than. those of its parent and with a greater suggesJion of C. iaponica. The habit is dense and upright. Both foliage and flowers are remarkably sun· tolerant. . . ;Wark's Single White' ··,A.C,R.S.,Camellia News, March, 1961, p.6. Synonym of 'Wark's White Single,' Camellia Grove, 1948. 'Wamberal Pink' Registered No. 55 by the ACR.S., Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.25. Applicant: Mrs. F. V. Ward, 171 Ocean View Road, Wamberal, N.S. Wales. A seedling from 'Spencer's Pink,' pollen parent unknown. Single flowers 4 inches in diameter. Colour pink. Early. Midseason. Low growing bushy plant of medium vigour. 'White Lily' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.17. "W.SD.M.M." (White, Semi-double, Medium, Midseason). Seedling raised by E. G. Waterhouse from 'Great Eastern.' 'Wynyard' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.17. "P.ID.M1.M." (Pink, Informal double, Medium Large, Midseason). Name given to a plant growing at Wynyard, Tasmania. The flower resembles 'Leviathan' but is smaller and the colour is deep pink. Compact growth.

CAMELLIA SASANQUA 'Cherilyn' Registered by the ACR.S., Camellia Annual, Feb., 1960, p.21. A chance seedling from the garden of Dr. Ducker, Lindfield, N.S.W., and grown by Mrs. McCloy, Lucinda Avenue, Wahroonga, N.S.W. (not Pymble as stated). Flower pink fading to pale pink, with up to 80 petals and petaloids. Vigorous growth. 'Jennifer Susan' Registered No. 57 by the ACR.S., Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.25. The name "Vanity Fair" for this cultivar used by Hazlewood Nurseries, 1962, p.29, was invalid and was changed to 'Jennifer Susan.' See ACR.S. Camellia News, Sept., 1963, p.12. A chance seedling which originated in the garden of Dr. Ducker, Lindfield, N.S.W., and was grown by Mrs. McCloy, of Wahroonga. First flowered in 1959. The flower is informal double with curled petals 3 inches in diameter. Colour pale pink. Early to midseason. Upright in habit and slow grower. 'Julie Anne' Registered No. 56 by the ACR.S., Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.25. Applicant: Mrs. McCloy, Lucinda Avenue, Wahroonga, N.S.W. A chance seedling from the garden of Dr. Ducker, Lindfield, N.S.W. The flower is incomplete double 3t to 4 inches in diameter. Colour deep rosy red with a silvery streak down each petal. Vigorous upright grower. Early to midseason. 'Pratten's Pink' 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.18. Pink single (synonym for 'Shell Pink Special' listed in ACR.S., Camellia Annual, Dec., 1957, p.27. 'Pygmy' Hazlewood Nurseries, 1963, p.51. A dwarf sasanqua, height in 8 years 42 inches. pyramidal and compact in shape. New growth comes in bunches of five to six stems. Flower about 2t inches across. Back of petals red with a purplish tint, lighter at the base. Inner a margin of 60 deep pink about! inch, the base suffused pink to white. As the flower ages, the colour lightens. Strong sasanqua scent. Leaves narrow and finely serrated. Origin unknown. 'Red Willow' Registered by the ACR.S., Camellia Annual, Feb., 1960, p.21. Chance seedling obtained by Mrs. McCloy, Lucinda Avenue, Wahroonga, N.S.W., from Dr. Ducker, Lindfield. It has a vigorous weeping growth with flowers along the branches. Diameter 2! to 3 inches. Colour light red. 'Shell Pink Special' A.CR.S., Camellia Annual, Dec., 1957, p.27. Gamble's Catalogue [1948J, p.lO. Large, single shell pink. Synonym 'Pratten's Pink,'1 a large plant in the garden of Mr. George Pratten, Pymble, N.S.W. 'Shishigashira Tall' Hazlewood Nurseries, 1963, p.51. Flower identical with 'Shishigashira' except that it is lighter in colour. The plant grows more upright and does not spread as much as 'Shishigashira.' This is a renamed Japanese variety. Satomi in his Nomenclature List of Sasanquas in Japan, 1958, mentions that there are two varieties known as 'Shishigashira,' one dark crimson red, small and spreading, the other pure pink, medium large and tall growing. It is thought that the latter is the above renamed variety. , 'Vanity F~ir' Hazlewood Nurseries, 1962, p.29. Duplication of a name already used for a japonica and therefore dropped in favour of 'Jennifer Susan.' See , ACR.S., Camellia News, Sept., 1963, p.12. 'Verity' . 1. Outteridge, 1962, p.18. "P.S." (Pink, Single). Name published, without permission of originator (Mrs. 1. Singleton), who calls it 'Verity Bettine: 'Weroona' L Outteridge, 1962, p.1S. "P.So." (Pink, Semi-double). Registered No. 53 by ACR.S., Camellia News, Dec., 1963, p.24. Flowers up to 4 inches, semi-double with occasional petaloids. Colour white, deeply stained rose on underside of petals. Compact plant, very floriferous. Raised by E. G. Waterhouse.

1. Outteridge, 1000 named Camellias in Australia, 1962. Eagle Heights Nursery, Eagle Heights, Queensland, Australia. Camellia Lodge Nursery, 348"350, Princess Highway, Noble Park, Victoria, Australia. Hazlewood Nurseries, Epping, New South Wales, Australia. 61 1.

Camellia Flower Gall NEIL TRESEDER Cornwall United Kingdom

AT the' beginning of July 1967 my son Andrew discovered several remarkably grotesque white fungal growths on the tips of four shoots ona plant, of Camellia, japonica 'Adolphe Audusson' some ten miles from our Truro nurseries. These resembled white puff balls but varied considerably in shape and ,size and, upon closer' examination, it,became evident that the fungus h~d' deyeloped on flower buds and flowers, one of which had. reached a mature condition before becoming c::ngulfed. They had remained on the plant at least two months beyond the normal blossom shedding period. The affected shoots were carefully removed and photographed before being placed separately in polythene bags and forwarded to the area plant pathological laboratory for examination where the cause was identified as Exobasidium camelliae. This grotesque: disease is' fortunately very rare in western countries 'though not uncommon in Japan where it is known as "Moti-byo" or Leaf and Stem Gall. Since the fungus produces such revolting growths, which completely enshroud the flowers and flower buds with white puff-ball like coatings, I think it more 'appropriate to refer to, it here as Camellia Flower Gall. The only prevIous record of this disease in England was in June 1944 when an abnormal, diseased flower was sent to Kew from a garden at Handcross in Sussex. ' The 'responsible fungus is described under Exobasidi1tm camelliae in the Transactions of the British Mycological Society, Vol. 29, 1946. This name was corrected to Exobasidium nudum (Shirai) S. Ito by Dr. Kenichi Shirahama, Specialist of Plant Diseases of the Economic Affairs Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to whom I wrote for further information. He said that "Moti-byo" of camellias makes gall, on leaves, stems and flower buds. The damage which we observed was confined to the flowers in various stages of their development. In 1962 the disease was reported in New Zealand (Trans. Roy. Soc. N.Z., Bot. 1, N.S. 261-262). The cause of such isolated infections is difficult to understand until one realises that fungal spores are known to travel thousands of miles in the upper atmosphere. The spores of this fungus are probably only active at blossom time when several successive sprayings with Zineb plus a suitable wetter are recommended. The related disease on rhododendrons and evergreen azaleas can be controlled by spraying at weekly intervals with five grammes of Captan per litre of water- commencing as soon as growth appears in the spring. 62 Camellias U'nder Glasshouse Protection

PAYNE H. MIDYETTE. Florida U.S.A.

I HAVE loved and have had Camellias since 1925. Until the Fall of 1963 my' experience had been with camellias in our garden, the only protection being what nature had provided. In 1966, I became interested in greenhouse flowers and the protection afforded, From the Fall of 1960 to the Spring of 1963, I visited many owners of glasshouses in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. I made many friends while doing so and I gathered much information as I took noteS and pictllres of greenhouses. I tried to develop all the information that Ieould and made notes of their experiences, their methods, their failures and their successes.' . In the Summer of 1963, I built my greenhouse, size 30 x 100 feet, centre height 15 feet, eaves height on each side 9 feet. It is fully ventilated with vent 'panels, two on each side, full length of building. Roof top in centre ventilated on each side full length of building. Frame is redwood with fibreglass on:~side and roof. Two 36 in. fans in each end, three turbolators placed at Y3 of the distance intervals in the centre of the greenhouse at a height of 10 feet from floor level, floor is covered with I" of river gravel. My fans are equipped with Aspen Pads water dripping through pads and r have nO overhead misters. My humidity comes from pads and floor which is, watered down when needed. I have automatic .heat control from two gas heaters, 0l:1e in each end 10 feet high.' '. The· most important factors in the care of camellias under glass are: 1. .Water as needed~ . 2. Fertilise your own mixture as needed. 3.. Fwnigate greenhouse as needed for beetles, aphides,·etc. 4. Prune plants as needed and repot with growth of plants. 5.. I repot aU plants, when purchased, with my own mixture. Destroy soil and all flowers or buds showing colour of imported plants. I believeeach person must experiment and determine the best management for his particular greenhouse to get results. What may work for me, 'may hot work for you. To have good flowers; good healthy plants are a must. Give them good managemeilt and good care and treat them with love and affection and they 63 will show their appreciation by giving you an abundance of goo:! flowers, that you will enjoy and be proud to show your friends. My recommendation to anyone who loves camellias is to get a glasshouse regardless of how small it may be. It can be very inexpensively built, costing a few hundred dollars or costing into the thousands, as you so desire. The greenhouse should, as far as possible, suit your desires and needs. I am confident it will be the best investment that you ever made and that it will render to you many, many times happiness, enjoyment and good health and will assure good flowers regardless of the weather. My greenhouse has afforded me more pleasure and happiness than any activity that I have ever had. My camellias have meant much to my general health. When I get strained and overworked I get with my flowers and soon tension and worry has gone.

Camellias on' Limestone

JOHN BLOOM .Lincolnshire United Kingdom

ON April 13th, a most appropriate date, we experienced the final pleasure of breaking' buds in our year-long attempt to grow camellias on a limestone soil of pH 7.9. Why is it that with so many shrubs and plants which revel in such conditions we need to strive for those which will not? Why are we not content witl:t the rampant clematis, the spindelberries and the spireaes instead of trying lovingly, with chemical aids, to keep our two Rhododendron iacksonii bushes alive? True they bloom each year and we greet their efforts with raptures but the searing brown patches at the leaf ends are only just kept in check with a bi-annual watering of sequestrene 138Fe.

And so when I was sent some camellias to try there was excitement. Six beautifully strong specimens arrived and were planted exactly a year ago. One was put in a, pot containing acid sand with peat and neutral loam; one in a pot containing peat, loam and alkaline sand; and four put straight into the border. . Of those in the border all were planted with plenty of peat and one. was given twO waterings' with the sequestrene during the year, another given one dose and two none at all. My garden is a light loam, sharply drained and very hot in sUmmer being on a slope to east and south, protected with shrubs and dry stone walls and 64 very hard on plants which require a moist root run. The unusual dryness of the season did not help either. 'Magnoliiflora' seemed to settle from the start and grew steadily, if slowly; 'Adolphe Audusson,' although it did not grow, seemed fairly happy. But these were the two watered with the sequestrene, the amount corresponding to their behaviour. Those without assistance were struggling by August and at the end· of September one died, the other being apparently finished off by the sharp spell after Christmas. If I was asked to state why, I would say that my dry root condition$ were responsible for the one that died in autumn and the general weak constitution of the other made it susceptible to frost. Now 'Magnoliiflora' has four largish buds bursting and 'Adolphe Audusson' is alive but without buds. The. two in the pots flourished all summer but in October C. saluenensis suddenly browned from the bottom leaves upwards and within two weeks, despite applications of sequestrene, died. That in the pot containing the acid sand looked flourishing until buds formed in February and then it too began to brown from the bottom leaves. Hurried first-aid has sayed its, life but it still looks very sickly and has shed those buds. I ought to say that we watered this one with our tap water which has a high lime content. In sheer self-defence, before the wrath of real enthusiasts rises against me, I must saythat we did not set out to coddle or cosset the plants in any way, growing them as they might have been handled on acid soil. It. has proved to· me that, as with our rhododendrons and gentians, they can be kept alive and persuaded to perform with doses of sequestrene but are fairly unhappy. Probably in raised beds of peat and acid soil, plus dressings of sequestrene they could be encouraged to flourish. That must be the subject of another experiment.

65 The World's Most Popular Canlellia

D. M. FORREST

Ceylon Tea Centre, 1952-1967

My heading refers to the Tea Plant. This will shQck lovers of theflo\Yering camellias, but they can hardly deny the title to Camellia sinensis (L),the variety which supplies the world with its most universally consumed of all beverages, except water. .. In the March 1964 issue of the International Camellia Journal, Mr.W. Wight gave a useful dissertation on Camellia sinensis and its various relations, from the botanical point of view. I am not going to take up his arguments because botany and plant breeding is not my subject. Indealing with the origin of the tea plant in myfecent book A Hundred Years of Ceylon Tea"" I was content to follow the leadgiven by Mr. Robert Sealy in his Revision of the Speciej Camellia*"" and by various research scientists such as Dr. C. R. Harler. I will only add thai to all tea men the recent disappearance of the word Thea (TEA) from the nomenclature of the plant will always.· be regretted. . Certainly, from the decora#:Ve aspect, there is little to connect the tea fields of a country like Ceylon with the camellias of our gardens. The effeCt, indeed, of the miles upon miles of carefully cultivated bushes in the Central Highlands has a monotony which can only be compared with a gigantic shrubbery of laurels! This aesthetic point takes us back even· further into the history of Ceylon as a plantation country. 1967 was the centenary year of Ceylon tea and highlighted the fact that the tea estates of today are actually the coffee estates of the mid-Victorian period, though of course greatly expanded. For Ceylon was once a great coffee country-second only in fact to Brazil. The British pioneers who came to Ceylon in great numbers from about 1830 onwards carried out a wholesale and, as some now think, excessive, clearance of the forests, and planted the whole area up as tightly as possible with their coffee trees. Most tourists of the time complained bitterly of the scrubbiness and tameness of the result, especially as much of the jungle had been disposed of by burning off, and the charred stumps were left among the coffee.

"" London, Chatto and Windus, 1967. ** London, Royal Horticultural Society, 1958. 66 The only alleviation was during rhe flowering season, when visitors were apt to take a more lyrical view of the coffee estates. One of rhem wrote:­ "Under the influence of rhe showers which usually fall in March ... the advance relay of buds bursts into bloom, and the planter rises one morning to find the entire estate profusely decorated with snowy garlands and the armosphere heavy with their perfume. . . the millions of snowy wrearhs resting on their background of dark green luxuriant bushes ... produce altogether an effect not readily to be forgotren! "

Fig. 1. Camellia Sinensis. Top I.eft: Young spray from which 'two leaves and a bud' are plucked. Centre: Flowers. Bottom left: Seeds. Alas, Camellia sinensis, as grown for tea production, does not have a flowering season at all! The so-called tea 'bush' is in fact a big and stronR jungle tree that has been cut down to a size convenient for plucking. In its native forests of South East Asia it grows up to a height of between 25 and 40 feet, according to the jat or type, and, of course, it bears freely the small white flower shown in Fig. 1. Under estate conditions it is only allowed to do this in order to provide seed (Fig. 2). But even seed bearers are becoming a rarity today, since practically all new planting is done by vegetative propagation, i.e., the use of leaf cuttings from chosen 'mother bushes.' This ensures complete uniformity of growth and yield. Occasionally, of course, one does see the odd flower on a tea bush, but this probably means that pruning is somewhat overdue. 67 All the above underlines the great difference between tea and such comparable products as coffee and cocoa. On a tea estate there is no crop as such to be gathered, no seasonal timetable of ripening, plucking, processing and despatch. What Camellia sinensis does is to throw up a perpetual 'flush' of tender shoots, from the ends of which two leaves and a bud are continuously plucked by hand. It is true that in certain tea-growing areas, such as North India and China, there is a cold season during which the bush remains more or less dormant and no plucking is done, but that is purely a climatic effect, and it does not apply to countries nearer the Equator. The story of how and why Ceylon turned over from coffee to tea is well worth telling for a human as well as a commercial drama. Coffee output

Fig. 2. Tea bushes allowed to grow up into trees as seed bearers. The difference between the various hybrid types then becomes evident! [Tea Research Institute] was approaching its peak in 1869 when a hitherto unknown fungus disease appeared on an estate called Galloola. It took the form of yellow powder on the under-side of the leaves and quickly led to the plant being defoliated. Some leaves from one of the affected bushes were sent to Dr. Thwaites (Fig. 3), the famous superintendent of Peradeniya Gardens. He passed them on to an old friend and colleague of his, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, in England. The latter gave the fungus the name of H emileia vastatrix-very sinister, since in English this means, more or less, the Semi-smooth Female Destroyer! The plague spread with appalling speed through Ceylon. To make things worse, it sometimes disappeared in certain years or in certain districts for just long enough to keep the planters' hopes alive. All sorts of remedies 68 were cried, mainly based on sulphur spraying or powdering. One very well­ known planter, George Wall, adopted the far-out remedy of spreading over each coffee tree a Chinese paper umbrella furnished with a frill of calico or common cloth and burning under this a mixmre of gunpowder and sulphur. The idea was to destroy the filament and spores of the fungus, but, unfortunately, it merely made things worse by injuring the foliage and the young fruit, while having no effect whatever on the disease.

Fig. 3. G. H. K. Thwaites, the great botanist and director of Peradeniya Gardens. [Gardeners Chronicle, 1874]

The remarkable fact is that even today there is no absolutely guaranteed control for H emileia vastatrix. It moved on steadily from Ceylon to the other coffee growing countries round the Indian Ocean, and though copper sprays have proved useful where conditions are favourable, the best defence against it is probably the production of resistant scrains. So far the blight has not appeared in South America, where it is thought that climatic conditions would encourage it to do great havoc.

The process of destruction in Ceylon took between 15 to 20 years. For reasons already given, the planters were reluctant to take drastic action, bur in one district after another they came to realise that the only hope was to pull up their coffee trees and grow something else. Their first resort was not tea but Cinchona. This is the tree whose bark provides quinine, which was, of course, in immense demand before the modern ways of dealing with Malaria were found. With their usual enthusiasm, the Ceylon planters fairly plunged on cinchona and quickly became the world's biggest suppliers. The foreseeable result was the collapse of the cinchona marker. In 1880 69 Fig. 4. Thin and straggly tea bushes of the early days (about 1880),

Fig. 5. The dense 'lawn' of tea produced by vegetative propagation. [Tea Res·earch Institute]

70 quinine was fetching lOs. an. ounce ; by 1886 it was 2s. 4d. ; 1892 a shilling. It has never recovered since.• Meanwhile tea was coming to the fore. The growers of the new crop were lucky to find a mentor in James Taylor, the hero of the centenary celebrations. 'He was a. y'oung crofter's son from Monboddo in Aberdeen­ shire, who had gone ouuoCeylon at the age of 16 to work on loolecondera Coffee Estate, about 18 miles from Kandy. In the early 1860's the owners of the .estate became interested in diversifying their crops and in 1867 James Taylor set out Ceylon's first commercial tea teld, an area of 19 acres. Tea had already been grown in various parts of Ceylon before that, but only a few bushes at a time.' Taylor was the first man not only to grow a regular acreage, but to process and sell the produce. I mentioned earlier that the tea bush is in reality a tree. As such it is extremely long lived and it is a remarkable fact that several hundred of James Taylor's bushes are still in existence on what is called No.7 field at Loolecondera. I saw them myself five years ago when they had not been pruned for some years. Since then they have been got into production again in honour of the centenary and are yielding excellent tea. James Taylor seems to have ordered most of his seed from Assam, but he also got some China seed .through' Thwaitesof Peradeniya, who always seemed to favour that fat (broadly speaking, the various Assam types tend to be large leafed, whereas the China sorts are small leafed and hardier in resisting the cold seasons of their native country). TayIQr'*"o1:k:~dthe whole thing oudor himself, He built his own 'Tea House' which still cx;ists,thbugh now occupied by th,e, dhoby (washerman), and he designed the first. rolling maChine/ever known in Ceylon. So it happened that when the, planters became interested in tea they na,turally turned to, James" Taylor for help .and advice. There are many pleasant traditions of the sessions he used tb have with his visitors. Before he built his TeaHOuse these used to take place orihis bungalow verandah where the tea was rolled and 'fired'(dried) by hand.. Thefirst Ceylon tea to be sold by auction in london arrived in 1878, but it is' a remarkable fact that three years earlier a small sampleconsignmeht had been shipped to New York. At the time when Ceylon tea appeared in Mincing lane there was a fierce competitive battle going on between China and' Indian tea. The former had held a complete monopoly up to. about 1835, but after that more and more Indian tea was sold in :Britain and other western countries. Oddly enough, by 1878,. China tea was being regarded as the cheaper (and sometimes the nastier!) product; Indian, and above. all 'ceylon tea, was favoured as the choice article. Today, of course, China has almost opted out .ofrhe mass market; and all we get from. there are the lapsangs and Keemuns which appeal only to the coimoisseur's palate. . .Dnce. they got started, the Ceylon planters. made as spectacular progress with. their tea as they had previously with coffee and cinchona ~ only fortunatel:ythis time they did not break the market.'Exports, which in 1880 amounted to ()aly 162,000 lb., were dose 150,000,000 lb. by the end of the century. Today they have passed the 500;000,000 lb. mark. . The Ceylon tea'industry had something to crow about in its centenary year! 71 I would like to say that in· its latest phase it is also doing something for the landscape of Ceylon. I mentioned earlier that tea estates, like the coffee estates before them, tend to be rather duLL compared with the tropical luxuriance which they had replaced. But the new tea fields produced by vegetative propagation have a charm of their own (Figs. 4, 5). The bushes grow densely and smoothly, with a beautiful bright green flush. As you drive along the up-country roads it is like looking out over great rolling lawns-'you could slide down a mountain on them,' as somebody remarked. This 'new look' is wonderfully symbolic of the wealth which Camellia sinensis has brought to the little island of its adoption.

Camellias on a Business Trip

L. I. SIMPSON Kent United Kingdom

ABOUT twelve years ago I bought a semi-derelict mansion and 13 acres of what had once been a garden. We removed the major part of .the mansion and with a party of friends made a determined attack on the grounds. During the course of our progress, we came across what had once been a large greenhouse full of camellias. The house had entirely disappeared and the camellia trees, 103 of them, had grown up to the light, many of them being over 20 feet high. Nothing had been done to them for fully 20 years and the flowers were small and poor, but the vision of this great bank of flowers 90 feet long was love at first sight. From that day I was dedicated to the camellia. Without any knowledge except that which I gained from reading books, I started with a small heated frame indoors to try and propagate some plants from cuttings. The results were poor but gradually improved until I erected a new greenhouse and installed mist propagation. Two years later I made a trip to Portugal where, thanks to the kindness of Miss M. Tait, a member of our Society, I was shown many of the magnificent camellias in Oporto. Four years ago I had to make a business trip to the Far East and Australia and, although the time of year was not right to see them flowering, I determined to see what I could of the camellia world in those parts. In Melbourne, where the temperature was about 62 0 F, I was introduced to Mr. Alex Jessep, who has retired as Director of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. He kindly took me round the gardens which were beautifully laid out and showed me many of the hundreds of camellia trees and bushes there. Many of the names were new to me, but it appears that in a number of cases they were just Australian names for the same varieties which we grow in England. Although I am no expert, it seemed to me that the yearly growth 72 was far greater than in this country. Mr. Jessep then took me to his house where his small garden was a mass of camellia plants of all descriptions. He gave me a history of most of the plants which showed his great knowledge and love of camellias. Among others, he showed me plants where he had treated the growth bud below the flower buds with gibberellic acid. The growth bud appears to have died and the seed pods were covered with a brownish coloured incrustation, some being considerably enlarged. Mr. Jessep was hoping to sow some of the seeds from these. After this we went on to the Camellia Lodge Nursery, owned by Mr. and Mrs. McMinn, about ten miles outside Melbourne. The nursery, which is not large in size, is devoted mainly to camellias and, to a lesser extent, azaleas, but every inch· of space appeared to be .used. My )mmediate impression was one of tidynessand efficiency.· The whole nursery had a look of cleanliness and I felt that I oughrro remove my shoes whenl entered the greenhouses. Mr. McMinn told me that they produced and sold about 25,000 plants every year. The majority were grown from cuttings, some under mist and some in beds in the greenhouse, the leaves being kept moist by watering when required. Most of his new acquisitions were grafted, as, of course, were all the cultivars of C. reticulata, of which he had a large selection. The grafting was done by Mrs. McMinn, who told me that she had the magnificent average of 94% takes. Only latge plants, 3-4 years or older were sold as it was found to be uneconomic to sell smaller plants. Prices, I found, were much about the same as in Britain, the 3-4 year plants costing about A£2. I was interested to see that many of the Reticulatas had what appears to be leaf virus disease. I was told that in many of these plants the virus markings appeared in alternate years-one year's growth being whole green and the following year most of the leaves appeared with the virus mottling. Mr. Jessep put forward the interesting theory that what is believed to be virus mottling is in fact lack of trace elements. I was most grateful to Mr. and Mrs. McMinn for all the information they gave me and not least for the very welcome tea which they insisted we should have after one of the most interesting afternoons I spent on my seven week trip. When in Sydney I visited another nursery, the Camellia Grove, where I met Mr. Fisher and Mr. Campbell. Here again I found the same atmosphere of tidyness and efficiency while being taken round· by Mi. Campbell. In Sydney the sun is hotter and many of the camellias are kept under lathe houses. I was very impressed by a new one they had recently erected of metal bars and wires. From Sydney I went on to' New Zealand but unfortunately was unable to see any· camellias as I only spent one day there. The impression I gained from the air was one of intense green and although it was almost mid­ summer, ranges of snow~capped mountains. After leaving New Zealand I travelled on to Tokyo where I hoped to see something of Co japonica in the land of its birth. Here again I had little time but Mr. Eikichi Satomi kindly showed me round. We visited a large shop where a number of camellia plants were on sale, after which we went to the Tokyo Horticultural Training College of which Mr. Satomi was a graduate. Here there were only a few camellias but it was most interestinR to see bonsai trees of every kind and to w;ltch the students pruning their 73 . roots. We then went on to a nursery on the outskirts of the city. This nursery, although small, was much on the lines of nurseries in Europe and very different to the factory-like ones I saw in Australia. I was interested to find that the camellia was very much used for the production of bonsai trees. Many ofthose I saw were extremely beautiful in form but had taken many years to produce. It seems that a scion is grafted on to a suitably shaped stock at least ten years old. Root pruning is necessary and the limited top growth is also due to the fact that the plant becomes pot bound. .The clima.te in Tokyo was much the same as it is at this time of year in 0 England, the temperature being about 52 • Nearly every house in the area in which I was staying seemed to have its camellia bush' and many of the C. sa.sanqua were in full bloom. I had hoped to go further afield into the camellia country but once again my time was limited and I had to return to London with my appetite whetted and with very pleasant memories of all the kindness shown to me. .

The Higo Camellia

'. . .TAIZO HIRATSUKA Kumamoto Japan

·THB. Japaneseword fo~ the camellia, which,l1asbeencherished for centuries in Japan as-a garden tree, is Trubaki.Onecantrace. records.ofthe ]apanesrc: appreciation ciLc,amellias back to. the eighth century. The camellia originated in the .Far East. The tree has. flourished not only­ on the Japanese islands but also on the Korean' peninsula and the Chinese contirient. However" the area where the camellia has been most intensely ·c:herished .and nurtured is tindOllbtedly Japan. In the nineteenth century the camellia was introduced to the European, American and' Australian continents. .In Kumamoto, the particular form cultivated is the higo camellia. Higo is the old name for the area which is now Kumamoto Prefecture. . In camellias of Japanese origin there are two main historical family' groups. One is called 'Yabu Tsubaki' (Mountain Camellia), or Camellia japonica L., which grows everywhere in Japan but in Hokkaido.. The other · is' called 'Yuki Tsubaki' (Snow Camellia), or Camellia rusticana Honda, which is produced on the northern coast of Honshu where there is much .snow. Recently many varieties .of camellia have been developed by the cross­ fertilisation of. these two main groups with other similar forms, and the higocamellia is one such' product. Accordingly, the forms which are known 74 as the higo camellia are not a monorype, but can b: considered as embracing one grouping of forms. The centre of the blossom is filled with stamens, and much like rhe apricot blossom (Japanese Ume), so it is called 'apricot-stamen form: or in Japanese ·Ume-jin.' This aspect reinforces the powerful beauty of the petals.

A typical higo camellia 'Hakutaka.'

The number of stamens varies, according to the form, from 100 to 250. The pistil stands straight up in the centre of rhe corolla. The beauty of the higo camellia is determined in the first instance by the corolla and the formation of the perals, stamens, and pistil. There are various colours: white, pink, crimson, scarlet, and variegated (nishiki or brocade). But whatever the colour, there is a demand for the flower of pure colour. The special features of higo camellia are found not only in the shape of the flower: the colour of the leaves and the shape of the trunk and branches are included in the appreciation. This is especially true since the major proportion of higo camellias are cultivated as bonsai, or potted plants, and therefore the total effect of the flowers, leaves and trunk have become an object of aesthetic attention. The camellia is an evergreen tree, and it is important rhat irs leaves maintain a brilliant green rhroughout the four seasons. The trunk, as the 75 scaffold for large flowers, must be that much the more powerful than the ordinary. Moreover, among Japanese a powerful cree-trunk is thought co be a sign of longevity and is therefore particularly welcomed. In the case of bonsai, of course, value is on the age and wildness of the tree as suggested by its appearance. There exist coday about seventy-one forms of the higo camellia, thirteen white, nineteen pink, sixteen crimson and scadet, and twenty-three brocade (nishiki).

Higo camellia-bonsai.

76 Why Such a Poor Flowering Season?

GEOFFREY GORER

Sussex United Kingdom

IN the many years that I have been growing camellias outside in this relatively favoured garden in East Sussex, I have never had such poor blooms as in the spring of 1966. Out of some sixty cultivars of C. faponica, only four produced flowers of approximately normal size and shape: 'Hatsuzakura,' 'Jupiter,' 'Silva' and 'Alba Simplex;' and even of these, only one plant of the two latter (out of several around the garden) were moderately satisfactory. In both cases these plants were against a north wall or hedge. The cultivars of C.x williamsii were not quite so poor, but only. 'J. C. Williams' and 'Donation' approached their proper size. The forms of C. saluenensis were relatively satisfactory. All the remaining plants dropped most of their buds; the flowers which did open were less than half their normal size and most of them were distorted and mis-shapen. Although the cultivars of C. japonica which did produce fairly normal flowers were all singles, some of the singles were as bad as the semi-doubles and doubles. The flowers on an established plant of 'Furoan' were less than an inch across; and those on a smaller plant of 'White Swan' no bigger. The vety unsatisfactory season could not be accounted for by frost damage. This garden had very little frost; after the beginning of February there were only 4 degrees of frost (28°F.) on a couple of nights in mid-March, and 2 degrees (30°F.) on April 20th. Six inches of snow fell on April 14th, which caused some damage by the weight on the branches; but a thaw set in as soon as the snow stopped and only open flowers were slightly marred. --. The only suggestion that I can make for this state of affairs is the peculiar weather, for the area, in the preceding year. We had a wet spring and early summer in 1965, followed by a very dry late summer and early autumn. February was unusually wet and warm; on many nights the temperature did not fall below 50°F. The weather turned cold again in mid-March. This sequence of a wet late spring; dry autumn and mild winter was extremely favourable to rhododendrons, which had never been more floriferous or earlier. Perhaps because camellias form their flower buds in the autumn, rather than at the end of the growth period as rhododendrons do, the dry autumn followed by the warm, wet February prevented the buds filling out adequately, even though the camellias were not particularly early­ 77 blooming. In such gardens as I visitt;d in the aeighbourhood the camellias were equally poor. . . The camellia plants did not show any signs of drought during September and October 1965, and the bud-set appeared to be very satisfac;:tory; but I wonder whether this suggests that camellia plants should be regularly watered during a dry autumn? The . plants then under glass in my cool house (thermostat set at 37"F.), which naturally received regular watering, were completely satisfactory.

Camellias As A Hobby GEORGE E. NEWTON North 'Carolina U.S.A.

THERE is perhaps more active interest in camellias in America at the present time than any other country. Often we have been accused of enjoying camellias only for the social aspect of belonging to camellia clubs and societies. This could possibly be the case with a very few of the hobbyists, but the majority of camellia lovers have a keen interest in the culture of camellias. Most hobbyists in addition to growing show flowers, plant °a number of seeds, grift recent varieties, or root a few cuttings each year. I will have to admit that we are more impatient than most, so grafting is practised widely. Camellias grow to profusion in the Gulf Coast States of America, and are found as far west as Texas. Rainfall is usually adequate in most of the Gulf Coast States for the outside plants. New Mexico and Arizona are extremely arid, so' camellias are rarely found there. In California the conditions again become ideal with the exception of rain. Camellia growers in California jokingly refer to their state as 'The land of little rain.' Much of the hobbyists' time must be spent watering their plants. One thing that does not seem to be so prevalent in California is flower-blight. This is one of the biggest plagues we have in the south. Farther north from California are Oregon and Washington. Again, growing conditions are favourable, with the exception of cold weather. This does not seem to bother the camellia lovers in these two states and there isa lot of interest, especially in Oregon. North Carolina was once considered to be as far north as camellias would grow. The last few years have seen the situation change, and now there is perhaps as much interest in Virginia as there is in North Carolina. The Norfolk Botanical Garden grows hundreds of varieties out of doors. Camellias are found on the East Coast of America as far north as Maryland and New York. . . 78 Soon we will see many newhybrids that will eventually change the thinking of camellia lovers. Not only will there be a breakthrough in colour (yellow, blue, etc.) but there will be new camellias that will be more resistant to cold and to arid conditions. Camellia lovers have a lot of curiosity and imagination. The last few years have brought about a number of changes in greenhouses. People with moderate incomes have learned that greenhouses can be inexpensively constructed with plastic film. This is not as long lasting as glass houses, but it is certainly within the price range of anyone. I know of several plastic greenhouses that are 15 x 15 ft. and cost less than $150, exclusive of labour. These houses afford a lot of protection· to blooms, and do not require a lot of heat. Many now refer to them as cool-houses as they should be, instead of hot-houses. When more people learn of the cheaply constructed cool-houses, then the number of camellia growers will likely double. Camellias need not be an expensive hobby. I do not personally know of any other hobby in which people so willingly share as we do with ourS. Most people freely share knowledge, plant material, seeds, scions, etc. Also, I do not know of any other. hobby in which age, religion or race matter as little as they do with us. There is as much as 50 years difference in ages of members of our local camellia club. A good fdendin England recently remarked that everyone he knew valued their contacts for scions. Perhaps I am takinga lot on myself,but for anyone interested in. scions, I personally think that all you. would have to do is choose some name at random, write and inquire about scions, and if that particular person was not in a position to send scions, he would certain~y recommend someone who could. I have asked for and received scions from ill over the camellia growing world. Although. I have always offered, I have never had anyone to accept any payment for scions other than for postage. The camellia boom that we are experiencing in A~erica seems to be everywhere. New societies are being formed and this is the best way for interest to spread. The most recent of the societies is the.Societa .ltaliana Della Camelia, or Italian Camellia Society. This is a welcome addition to the existing societies. Already many old plants have been located that were thought to be lost to commerce. As I understand it, there are about 600 varieties to be identified. I think that any of us will find much of interest in belonging to this new society. Most of the societies are formed primarily through the efforts of one man who has a lot of interest; The group need not be large, a handful of members can form a society. It is hoped that other groups in Europe will take the initiative to form such a society. France and Belgium would be logical places for a society. A great number of camellias were grown there several years ago. We could learn so much from a large scale revival of interest in Europe. Japan has an active society both for camellias as we knbw them, and a separate society for the little known but beautiful higos. So many of the cultivars that we grow now originated in Japan and China. . If our societies are to prosper, it will take much effort on everyone's part. It is an easy matter to interest friends in camellias and in camellia organisations. If we could double the mnnber· of members we have in each 79 society, then we would also double the amount of income the society receives. If this were the case, then we could have a publication that is twice as large, and with ,more contributions of articles, twice as good. Isn't this encouragement enough?

Camellias Under Glass in Greater London H. G. AYLING Middlesex United Kingdom

THIS title is, in a way, false. We still live in the same house in what used to be Stanmore, Middlesex. We have not moved but London has moved outwards. Our garden is in fact in a suburb on the outer fringe of the Capital on rising ground about 300' above sea level. The true London fog is a thing of the past but the air still carries an amount of soot, grime and dust at all seasons, more of course in winter. The soil is clay, the natural flora being simply grass and buttercups. We have two greenhouses, one 20' x 8' and the other .12' x 7'. Our first introduction to camellias was at an exhibition where we were shown these gorgeous- flowers, told all about them, their cultivation and merits by an old gentleman who explained that as a boy he had been concerned in planning the original camellia border at Kew Gardens. It is worth mentioning that at that time, the middle thirties, his firm catalogued seven named varieties of camellias only, nowadays they probably grow hundreds. We started to grow camellias seriously just after the last War and we decided to grow them under glass because in that way we could have a large number of cultivars in pots which could be easily moved and managed and, the greatest benefit of all, would give us flowers when really needed during the early months of the year. In the first two or three years we bought plants a few at a time from various nurseries and it was disappointing to find that when some of them flowered they were not true to name. The cultivars which we had at that time were all old and well known and, generally speaking, we did quite well during this period. Heating was by paraffin blue flame burner and our worst setback was when a large pane of glass blew out of one of the greenhouses on a bitterly cold day with the result that many of the plants were frozen right through and some of them never recovered. This taught us that however hardy a camellia maybe the one thing it will not stand is having its roots frozen. We gradually increased our stock and the question of re-potting arose. We found that no two experts agreed on either the ingredients or the proportions of a suitable 80 compost and on exammmg the plants we received from the nurseries, it seemed that the contents of the pots varied from pure peat to pure mud. We evolved what seemed to be an average mixture and this has been successful enough to need little alteration, except that as a result of experience we continually use more and more sharp drainage materials. Another setback at this period was when a sudden frost in April caught us unawares and killed a lot of young growth which resulted in the loss of Rower the following year, but the plants were otherwise unharmed. As a result of pictures and glowing descriptions in catalogues, combined with mouth watering exhibits at the camellia shows we began to acquire newer cultivars mostly raised abroad. These were scarce and expensive and we had to start with small plants. In time the plants flowered, but perhaps because of their inherent vigour some of these seemed to concentrate their energies on growth rather than production of Rowers until they were very large plants. An example of this was 'Debutante,' described as "free Rowering when established." We are still wondering what· "established" means because ours grew 7' high and 4' through but it could J;1ever be described as "free flowering." Finally rushing in where even experts se.em co tread warily we ordered planes direct from America. We have bee'n very successful in establishing the plants received in spite of their bare-root condition. They have arrived in the autumn and have always started growth without any trouble in the early months of the following year although they may not bloom for another twelve months. We have never received a plant damaged in transit. Although everyone cannot have an estate or wood in which to plant camellias, most people who garden have room for a greenhouse and camellias can be grown there happily with very little trouble, however small it is. Blooms can be enjoyed at any time between September and May according to the cultivars planted and few, if any, other plants can provide as long a Rowering season. All that is required is a suitable compost, protection for the roots in winter and care and attention to watering. Camellias must be kept moist, but not wet, at all times; similar requirements to our own!

81 A Cure for Balling?

S. ]. HAZLEWOOD New South Wales Australia

IN the December 1966 issue of Camellia News (Australian Camellia Research Society) the writer published a preliminary note on an experiment to control the flowering of Camellia 'Lady St. Clair,' also known as 'Pink Shell.' It is now possible to report an extension of the experiment through the recent flowering seasons. In the climate of Sydney, N.S.W., 'tady St. Clair' notoriously displays a balling of the buds, ani only unier certain special conditions do plants show the beautiful opening bud, the partly open flower with two layers of petals spread as a background to the cusped centre, and finally the fully opened flower with its stamens-all phases being characterised by the distinctive pinks suggested by the alternative name. During 1968 a well established plant began the flowering season with the characteristic balling. Careful examination of the unopened buds revealed the startling fact that abscission of all the petals at the base of the bud had taken place. Subsequently it has been shown that every balled bud examined on this and other varieties has suffered the same fate. At the same time it was observed that, the growth shoots behind the buds were beginning to elongate, indicating that growth auxins were becoming active. At this stage an hypothesis was elaborated combining these observations with reports from Mr. W. G. Hazlewood that the variety hadb~en known to flower more normally when (a) treated with tea solution, (b) grown in proximity to eucalypts, or (c) grown under extreme conditions of apparent neglect. The writer had been associated with unpublished work which had demonstrated that the tannins of mangrove cutch were able to control the destructive influence of 2, 4-D hormone herbicide on young tomato seedlings. More recently there has been published work by Zinmeister and Hollmueller of the University of Munich showing that tannins were antagonists to the action of the auxin indole acetic acid. (Chemical Abstracts Vol. 66, 84944j), The hypothesis was that the activation of the growth auxins was associated with the abscission of the petals, and that if growth auxin activation could be delayed by tannins, flowering could be altered. Accordingly the underside of the bush was sprayed with one pint of household tea solution each day for one week. The results were startling and 82 gratifying. The treatment was repeated after five weeks,and approximately 150 good blooms were produced in the season. Because the manganese content of tea has been known to reach toxic proportions in the soil if such treatment is continued indefinitely, it was decided to experiment with alternatives. Initially, polyurethane sponge bands carrying a mixture of tannic acid (3 gram) in lanoline (6 gram) were applied to selected main limbs of the same bush. After the first month of the flowering season, it was judged that this treatment was producing results, but that something more reactive was required. Resort was had to the bark of a local wattle Acacia decurrens long used in Australia for tanning purposes. Five ,pounds weight of roughly broken dried bark was extracted fifteen times with 1Y:l gallons of hot water each time, and after cooling the extract was applied to the area under the subject bush.· Once again the response· has been extremely gratifying, and ninety per cent. of the buds which have developed have opened. The treatment was repeated after a four weeks' interval, and it is confidently expected that the majority of the remaining buds will show similar response. The treatment is being extended to the whole of the writer's garden in modified form-broken wattle .bark has been scattered among all the camellia bushes, with special attention to late flowering varieties. The results will be 'carefully examined. . Meanwhile, tent~tive confirmation of the hypothesis flows in from other interested growers. The use of tea leaves; the incorporation of powdered wattle bark in the surface soil of four pots leaving three untreated for controls; the successful flowering of a bush adjacent to an English oak Quercus rabur have all been reported· in respect of 'Lady St. Clair.' Applications of tea to a plant of 'Lady Loch' which has always balled badly in the past, has resulted in a succession of good blooms this season.· We have heard with interest that it is a Californian practice to incorporate red-wood bark in the potting medium. Has there been an unrecognised contribution of tannins therein to the successful cultivation of camellias?

83 Camellia Passage DOROTHEA W. NEWTON . Sussex United Kingdom

WHEN I come to think of it now, I am very glad I ever decided to experiment by growing camellias in my home. How nervous I was at the start! It seemed the most risky; unorthodox behaviour. However, that was ten years ago and now I have discovered the things to avoid, the points always to remember, though admittedly I experience a little of that old anxiety as 1 lift pot after pot at the first frosts. Only as the New Year presents its gifts of camellias so surprisingly in flower in Camellia Passage (which runs almost the length of our bungalow, well lit by two windows) do I really relax-all of which shows me how settled, how unmoved mankind can be in his ways -he prefers to let things alone and he would rather there were no changes. I feel exactly the same, only I do have just enough sense of adventure and "let's try this once ..." to experiment constantly. How was I to guess that only when we settled in our new home we would find the garden riddle:! with lime? Not to be seen, it came from a pile of rubble left beneath the compost heap built-incredibly-by the last owner. Above ground the soil was richly acid and laced with loam and leaf mould. Within a year the leaves of most of my 20 camellias-sunk for the most part in pots-were yellowing. So far, two treatments with sequestrene have shown no noticeable results. But I realised where hope lay-repotting; and while making soil tests and preparing safer ground, I could establish my camellias in the long, light and airy passageway. Of course, every winter this would be their home in any case, but what a comfort to have got over the worst hurdles with regard to indoor culture, and to be able any time, to heave them all in:oars. Each year has something to teach, and wherever we go we find new ideas under our noses. Here, in Northiam, I discovered a sheltered wood full of those delightful carpeting plants that help the badger and the fox, rabbit and squirrel to move silently. Some of these, I soon discovered, make ideal carpeting for my camellia Fats, aiding humidity and preserving moisture to the soil. One such small plant-Hypericum pulchrum-spreads itself like a fan. Minute leaves, neat and precise, cover the plant most of the year and brilliant golden flowers stud the stems in the summer so that when the camellias once more take up their warm-season positions, the hypericums oblige with added interest; so do linaria, viola and various acid-sail-loving alpines. Fruiting mosses around the base of the camellias look delightful and do no harm and are, in fact, found under most woodland shrubs and trees 84 and aid humidity. As for right containers, my experiments never cease along this aven.ue. Recently I bought some attractively coloured polythene buckets with removable handles,from a localchain store; into theseI sunk camellia pots, bedding these around with moist sedge peat. I suppose I have only watered those pots three times this winter and the buckets make useful and unusual containers for the home; they are also warm, an::! light to catry. Bringing my camellias into the house has taught me a lot regarding humidity. Because humidity is so necessary, I gave some thought to the subject, and duly learned how necessary coo it is foe man to have enough humidity in the home, as well as man's plants. We wonder why weget dry hands and shiver so in the winter indoors. Much of this is due to the dry cold, I am cold. This does not imply that we should live in the damp, bue that our central heating, electric or gas fires inordinately dry up the indoor atmosphere. Hence, co form the habit of placing a gravel tray or fibreglass tray full of water above a radiator or on top of the electric convector heater is to correct this dryness and also makes it possible to grow all kinds of unusual. plants besides camellias indoors - plants like columneas, saintpaulias and azaleas, for instance. As co the necessity for the indoor camellia grower to learn those things co avoid and those points to be remembered, we must avoid first of all that dry, cold atmosphere. Camellias are hardy on the whole and very versatile, bue as a glass of cold water can often freeze in an unheated passage or room, I wrap the con.tainers around with old rugs or bathmats on frosty nights, and I lay a sheet of polythene or tissue paper over opening blooms. During the day come points to remember: regular syringing with warm water and checking on light and air-movement and a fortnightly feed of a good organic fertiliser. I also wash the leaves occasionally and check for scale or any ocher pests. Camellias, grown in the· home and given the above conscientious care, will, I assure you, be surprisingly rewarding.

85 " ::~ I.: .

Cha No Yu

"Chanoyu is the plum blossom and the winter chrysanthemums, the autumn leaves, the green bamboo and the withered branch and' the frosty dawn."-The 99th of the 100 precepts of Rikuyu. IN most of the world tea is simply a refreshing and stimulating drink with no great mystery attached· to it. It is one of those everyday commodities everyone takes for granted and uses without bothering to think twice about it. There's no reason why anyone should. But when you begin to wonder about the origin of tea, you see that it is a mysterious beverage, and that no one knows very much about it. When the British and European merchant adventurers began to girdle the earth in the 16th and 17th centuries, news of tea began to reach the West. But it was known at least a thousand years earlier in China. No one knows exactly how many years ago the East came upon the idea of plucking the leaves of a shrub or tree, withering them and infusing them .in water, although there are legends in. the folklore of 1Jlany eastern countries. How and when tea was discovered remains a mystery. Tea is the most popular drink in the world. and the world drinks it for the most part simply as a beverage. Only in Japan has tea become an art, a ritualistic ceremony which baffles the Western mind. Chanoyu, the Japanese Tea Ceremony, had its origin in the ritual of a Chinese Southern Zen Buddhist sect a thousand years ago. The monks gathered before an image of Bodhi Darma (who, says one legend, first discovered tea) to drink tea from a communal bowl with the reverence of Holy Sacrament. The meaning, whatever it might have been, vanished; but the ritual became the Japanese Tea Ceremony of the 15th century. It still exists in modern Japan with scarcely any alterations. There have been three schools in the history of tea, each linked with a definite period of Chinese culture. The first was the school of cake tea, prominent during the Tang Dynasty, later familiar in the form of tea bricks transported through the Gobi Desert to Russia. Tea was placed in water and boiled. Next came powdered tea, characteristic of the Sung Dynasty (%0-1279 A.D.), which was whipped into a thick, frothing liquid, and this was the tea traditionally used-and is still used-in Chanoyu. Leaf tea of

Reprinted by permission of the Editor of The Tea Flyer. 86 the Ming Dynasty, the only school with which the West is familiar, is simply steeped in boiling water. lu Wu, a Chinese Tang Dynasty poet of the 8th century, saw tea as a ~ymbol of the synthesis which Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism sought in their individual ways. He wrote a Holy Scripture of tea, the Cha-kinKI in which rules for serving tea were elaborated, and enriched with Taoist symbolism. The earliest story of tea in Japan tells how the Emperor Shomu entertained a hundred Buddhist monks to tea in the royal palace. A few years later a Japanese monk brought tea seeds from China and planted them in Yeisan. This was the earliest record of tea planting in Japan, but tea is scarcely mentioned again until the 12th century Sung Dynasty when another monk

A Japanese Tea Room showing complete simplicity in arrangement. who had gone to China to study in the Southern Zen school brought tea seeds with him on his return, too. The tea seeds were planted in three areas, one of which, the Uji district near Kiote, still claims to be the best tea in the world though it is unknown among the tea-drinking nations of the West. Southern Zen began to spread rapidly. With it spread the Tea Ceremony and the tea ideal of the Sung. By the 15th century the ceremony was completely formulated in Japan. By now it was a social custom, though still with a background of art and culture, and in its deepest form retaining something of the simplicity which was part of the Zen teaching. 87 Today, its form unchanged, it follows 'the formula and etiquette of Sen-no-Soeki, "Rikuyu," as he was known in the Emperor's court. He is said to have been the greatest tea master of all time. In modern Japan the art of the tea ceremony is part of the education of the Japanese and especially of the Japanese girl, for whom there are schools in which the complicated ceremony is taught. Most Westerners who have taken part in the Japanese Tea Ceremony say it is dull and that the tea is not recognisable as tea, either by sight or taste. It has been described as 'thick, frothy, tepid and green.' It is said to taste awful. But that is beside the point. Chanoyu is essentially an aesthetic cult. The ritual itself, complicated and circumscribed by rules from which it is not permissible to deviate by one hair's-breadth, 'is secondary to the principal aim: to appreciate the beauty of art and nature. Usually there are five guests, selected with great care by their host. First he must choose, as principal, a man well versed in the ritual and with great understanding of art, literature and spiritual values. The other guests must be selected to blend harmoniously. The guests arrive at their host's home some time before the ceremony is due to begin, dressed in silk kimonos of sober hue. The whole art is to reduce everything to absolute simplicity in which, says the aesthete, truth and beauty can be found. Guests are directed to a small waiting room in a corner of the garden. When they are all assembled the host enters, bows 'low and returns to the tea room, either an independent construction or part of the main house. Neither host nor guests say a word. Now the principal guest leads the way to the tea room through a garden which is extraordinary in its simplicity. The guests wash their hands and rinse their mouths with water, then crouch low in humility to pass through a very low doorway, first taking off their shoes, and, in the old days, their swords if they are Samurai. But there ~re no SamMai in Japan today. The standard area for a tea room is about 9! feet square. Each person will have a mat to sit on, and he will know exactly where to sit, according to his seniority. The first thing to strike the uninitiated guest would again be the utter simplicity of the foom. There is scarcely any decoration for reaHty lies, says Chanoyu, behind the transient world of appearances. Each guest kneels in turn before a tokonoma or alcove where a simple decoration hangs-a kakemono, a scroll on which is written passages from Chinese and Japanese classics. This will hang in the alcove throughout the first part of the ceremony but will be replaced with a flower arrangement before the second part. , Each guest examines the hearth, laying his fan before him in reverence. Then, taking their places on their mats, kneeling down and' sitting on, their heels, they are ready for the ceremony to begin. There are two parts to Chanoyu. In the first Koicha, or thick tea, is served; in the second Usucha, or thin tea, is served. 88 Before the Koit.:ha, the guests take a light meal, or Kaiseki. The meal consists of a number of courses, though not as many as in a traditional Japanese feast. There will be soup, rice, raw fish, shell fish and other delicacies, and sake, a wine made from fermented rice. The guests are expected to finish every course completely, and the host must bring everything into the room himself and wait personally on his guests, for the tea room is accessible only to the host and his guests during the entertainment, as it is called. But the host does not eat with his guests.

A young Japanese girl with the utensils used in the Tea Ceremony.

When the meal is over and the host has removed the empty dishes, sweets are served and the guests retire to the waiting room until they are summoned to return by five or seven strokes on a gong. The host brings in his tea utensils. Some of them are commonplace, but the tea caddy, the tea bowl, and the spoon are usually exquisite and among the most prized possessions of the Japanese. In an atmosphere of restfulness and calm, host and guests listen to the 'soughing of the wind in the pines' (the music of the boiling water). The

89 host places three spoons of powdered tea in a bowl, fills a ladle with boiling water and adds a third of it to the tea. With a whisk he whips up the mixture as if he were beating eggs. The result is like thick spinach soup in colour and consistency. The principal guest bows to his fellow guests before he takes the bowl on a silk cloth on the palm of his left hand. He sips the' tea. After complimenting the host upon flavour and consistency, he takes one or two sips more, wipes the edge with a piece of paper and passes the bowl to the next guest who performs the same ritual before passing it to the next and so on until all have drunk. The tea drinking is followed by an examination of the more valuable utensils. Many of them, having romantic or exciting histories, furnish inexhaustible topics of conversation and involve the participants in questions of art, literature, history and philosophy. This after-tea conversation is the purpose of the Koicha ceremony. The second period, when Usucha or thin tea is served, is little more than a social gathering which may take place in a different room in the house. When the second party is over and the guests have departed, the host returns to the tea room and sits before his kettle in an attitude of complete relaxation, listening to the sound of the wind in the pines. The tea ceremony, it is said, was an improvised drama whose plot was woven about tea, flowers and paintings. With no colour to disturb the tone' of the room, no sound to mar the rhythm, nor word to break the unity of the surroundings, and with every movement made simply and naturally, the aims of the tea ceremony were what? The West sees little in it but an ornate, fussy and meaningless ritual. Perhaps it is, but again-perhaps it isn't.

ANDREW C. SOFFE Andrew Soffe, a director of the Society since its inception, died at his home in Umtali, Rhodesia, just before his 71st birthday. He was extremely interested in forestry and farming and for forty years owned a property just over the border in Mo\=ambique where he created a beautiful forest garden, This he bequeathed to the Portuguese government, and it is now known as "Parque Nacional Andrew Cunningham Soffe." He was interested in all plants but especially magnolias, rhododendrons and camellias which he imported in large numbers. His contributions to the Society will be sadly missed, for they came from a man of unfailing courtesy and fairness.

90 Notes on Japanese Camellia Publications E. G. WATERHOUSE New South Wales Australia

MANY fascinating Japanese camellia publications appear each year, and they make one long to have the works translated. Here are some notes on publications which appeared in 1965 and 1966. Rigo Tsubaki. Higo Camellia Society, 42p., 200 yen. The fine volume Rigo Ca:melliaby Taizo Hiratsuka which was reviewed in the last issue of the International Camellia Journal was followed by a new publication Rigo Tsubaki. The first issue appeared in April, 1965. On the cover is a large black and white illustration of the new higo variety 'Tenko.' The contents are entirely Japanese but there are some interesting illustrations. Mr. Eikichi Satomi has kindly supplied the following headinRs to the articles. This and that about higo camellias-Eikichi Satomi. Higo camellias and Bank business-Elizo Kawata. My dream of higo camellia-Professor Osamu Tamaguchi. Relation of higo camellia to snow camellia ~speciallyas regards their blooming form-Shuho Kirino. History of the Higo Camellia Society-Yaichi Shimada. Cutting propagation-Teruo Tamura. Research on the pollen of higo camellias-Tsuyoshi Kuriya. Higo camellia literature-Minoru Takeuchi. How to grow higo camellias-Yuici Tanaka. Report on Camellia Show at Kumamoto. Rigo Tsubaki,No. 2. Higo Camellia Society, 52p., 250 yen. Issue No. 2 appeared in September, 1965. There is a rine ..:oluur illustration of 'Jitsugetsusei' on the cover, and in the text there are many illustrations of the method of making bonsai with the higo camellia. The contents of this issue reveal the extent to which the hijio has become a cult with the devotees of this Society: Higo tsubaki and I-Nobuyuki Irii. Miscellaneous emotion about higo tsubaki-Mutsuyashi Naito. Visitinghigo tsubah-Takeshi Muraiyama. Tsubaki and I-Kanan Hikuma. Higo tsubaki in retrospect-Tuneo Hayashida. Planting and Control of higo tsubaki-Yuichi Tanaka. 91 Names of prize-winners in Higo Exhibition-Yuichi Shimada, Notes on tsubaki exhibition in Kyoto-Takeshi Muraiyama. Lecture on higo tsubaki, bonsai control, planting and management. Camellia} No.5. Japan Camellia Society. 36p. This is a very attractive issue. On the cover is a good black and white illustration of 'Chosen-tsubaki,' the native Korean Camellia, and inside is a full-page in colour illustrating some of the camellia varieties introducea during the Edo dynasty. These are 'Kokuryu,' 'Nukifude,' 'Tsurikagari,' 'Yukibotan,' 'Shuchuka,' 'Amanogawa,' 'Harunoutena,' 'Higurashi,' 'Benikarako,' 'Hakuro-nishiki,' 'Konronkoku' ('Konronkuro'), 'Kankashibori,' 'Kyobotan' and 'Okinonami.' Then there are three interesting views of the Tokyo Camellia Show, 1965, one of which shows Princess Hitachi inspecting the blooms, some pictures of the International Camellia Festival held in Tokyo, a full-page view of an enormous C. wabisuke in Kyoto, small shots of the Kagawa Camellia Show, and good black and white illustrations of the following camellias: 'Madonotsuki,' 'Harunomai,' 'Tsukimiguruma,' 'Yukimiguruma,' 'Hanamiguruma' and 'Kyokarako.' Tsubaki to Sazanka} 1965. 175p., 650 yen, The lively interest in camellias in Japan is evidenced by yet another publication. The author, Mr. Tsuneo Nakamura, is Secretary of the Japan Camellia Society. At the Saitama Prefecture Gardens, some twenty miles from Tokyo, he has charge of a large collection of camellias including many American varieties donated by the late Ralph Peer. There are many black and white illustrations of Japanese camellias, discussion of propagation by cuttings and by grafting, interesting photos of the late Mr. Minegawa (Senior) and the botanist, the late Dr. Makino, a view of the dense camellia forest in Aomari Prefecture, and a photo of large pieces of camellia roots exposed for sale in a sidestreet in Kumamoto. These roots obtained from large plants of the wild camellias growing in the forest are used in Kumamoto as stocks on which to graft higo camellias which are trained as bonsai specimens. The text of this book is entirely in Japanese. Garden Life} No. 17. March, 1966. This is in Japanese and devotes 36 pages to camellias, giving a wide survey of camellia societies and camellia publications in different parts of the world. The editor is Mr. Naoyuki Uyemura, chief editor for "Garden Life," in collaboration with Mr. Kiyoshi Ishikawa, President of the Japan Camellia Society. There are numerous good black and white illustrations, and a fine cover showing twelve Japanese camellias in full colour. "Garden Life" is the outstanding horticultural magazine in Japan and enjoys a circulation of 60,000. This issue should do much to forge links between camellia lovers in Japan and the Western world. Appointment Book} 1966} by Dr. Takeshi Watanabe. Who would guess from this unassuming title that this isa unique and original calendar and presentation of the beauty and decorative charm and· variety of the camellia? It is the work of Dr. Takeshi Watanabe, of the Research Laboratories of the Takeda Chemical Industries in Osaka. Dr. Watanabe is an eminent exponent of the camellia in Japan and the life and 92 soul of the Kyoto Garden Club. The work reveals not only his profound knowledge and research but also his deep love of the camellia. Opposite each calendar page is a delightful small illustration in black and white accompanied by a brief description in Japanese of various camellia species or rare varieties. Occasionally he gives on three quarters of a page an exquisitely reproduced and vivid colour plate of camellias represented on vase, or plate, or screen or lacquer box, and one page reproduces with great charm a series of colour paintings of camellias from a rare old work of the Edo period. This is indeed a prestige production born of deep love of the camellia and superbly executed with the flair of an artist.

Camellia Register

CAMELLIA 'ARMSTRONG SUPREME'. Origination: The result of a cross by Herbert C. Swim, of Ontario, California, U.S.A., of Camellia japonica 'Ville de Nantes' x Camellia x williamsii ']. C. Williams', the former being the seed parent and the latter being the pollen parent. This cross was made in the spring of 1949. Description: Semi-double flowers of balanced but somewhat irregular form, with a general colour tonality of the flowers corresponding to near Currant Red, Plate 821/3, Page 167 (Horticultural Colour Chart), with veins slightly darker. The plant is characterized by moderate vigour, being upright-spreading and bushy in plant habit-precocious in flowering habit with flowers formed at an early age compared with ordinary C. japonica cultivars (it should be pointed out that the pollen parent of this variety is a hybrid between C. japonica and C. saluenensis). This new variety is characterized by the precociousness of the C. saluenensis species and by the relatively large flower of the C. japonica species. Introducer: Armstrong Nurseries, Inc., Ontario, California, U.S.A.

CAMELLIA x WILLIAMSII 'BRIGADOON'. Origination: . A seedling cultivar produced at the direction of Herbert C. Swim, of Ontario, California, U.S.A., by. crossing Camellia saluenensis x C. japonica 'Princesse Bacciochi,' the former being the seed parent and the latter being the. pollen parent. This cross was made in the spring of 1948. Description: This new camellia is characterized by the precocious blooming habit of C. saluenensis, bearing semi-double flowers of 12 to 14 petals plus one to three petaloids, having an open centre filled with a moderately formal column of erect stamens. The flowers are near Solferino Purple, Page 26, Plate 26/3 (Horticultural Colour Chart); the veins are the same colour but of a deeper hue. 93 The plant is characteristically upright in habit, somewhat stiff. The flowers are borne both laterally and terminally in great profusion averaging 11 to 14 centimetres in diameter. The foliage is small to medium in size, being 21 to 31 centimetres wide and 5 to 8 centimetres long, moderately abundant in quality. Introducel': Armstrong Nurseries, Inc., Ontario, California, U.S.A.

CAMELLIA JAPONICA 'CAMPARI'. Origination: A seedling variety produced under the direction of Herbert C. Swim, of Ontario, California, U.S.A., as the result of a pollination made in the spring of 1947 b~tween C. japonic,. 'Lady Vansittart' x C. japonica 'Daikagura,' the former being the seed parent and the latter being the pollen parent. Description: Blooms very double, quite formally imbricated, 8 centimetres to 10 centimetres in diameter when fully open. Open flower is described as variegated, with a striped pattern, and the colour varies between white and Venetian Pink, Plate 420/3, Page 125 (Horticultural Colour Chart). In addition to the stripes and streaks that run the full length of the petal, there are small flecks linear in aspect. These flecks are distributed irregularly and are irregular in both length and width. They are generally near Carmine, Plate 21/3, Page 21 (Horticultural Colour Chart) to near Crimson, Plate 22/1, Page 22 (Horticultural Colour Chart). The plant is quite bushy in habit. Introducer: The Armstrong Nurseries, Inc., Ontario, California, U.S.A.

CAMELLIA x WILLIAMSII 'FLIRTATION.' Origination: Resulting from a cross produced at the direction of Herbert C. Swim, Ontario, California, U.S.A., made in 1946 by crossing C. japonica 'Lady Vansittart' x C. salttenensis, the former being the seed parent and the latter being the pollen parent. Description: An extremely floriferous cultivar producing somewhat medium-sized single flowers of essentially six petals, usually consisting of two imbricated layers of three petals each. The plant is very bushy and relatively hardy to sun exposure even under the dry warm conditions of. Southern California. The flowers are four to five centimetres in diameter when fully open and are near Rose Madder, Plate 23/3, Page 23 (Horticultural Colour Chart), sometimes tending on the inside surface to Tyrian Rose, Plate 24/3, Page 24 (Horticultural Colour Chart). When the flower is fully open the outer surface of the petals may be near Phlox Pink, Plate 625/3, Page 77 (Horticultural Colour Chart), with the inside surface being near Fuchsine Pink; Plate 627/3, Page 78 (Horticultural Colour Chart). The leaves are small to medium in size, being 3 to 5 centimetres wide and 6 to 10 centimetres long. They are abundant in quantity. The plant is extremely bushy and thick in habit. Introducer: Armstrong Nurseries, Inc., Ontario, California, U.S.A. 94 CAMELLIA JAPONICA 'KING'S RUBY: Origination: Originated at the direction of Herbert C. Swim, Ontario. California, U.S.A., in 1947 through the crossing of Camellia japonica 'Anita' x C. japonica 'Arajishi,' the former being the seed parent and the latter being the pollen parent. Description: Vigorous, moderately branched plant with attractive large dark green foliage showing margins with large coarse serrations. Moderate floriferousness with flowers usually borne terminally, occasionally laterally. The flowers are medium sized, of 25 to 35 petals plus 5 to 10 petaloids, with the open flower being rather globular in form and in an informal manner. Generally described as full peony form. The flowers average 9 to 11 centimetres in diameter when fully open. and are near Turkey Red, Plate 721, Page 94 (Horticultural Colour Chart), with veins near Currant Red, Plate 821/2, Page 167. The leaves are moderately abundant, 7 to· 8 centimetres wide and 11 to 13 centimetres long. Introducer: Armstrong Nurseries, Inc., Ontario, California, U.S.A.

CAMELLIA JAPONICA 'ZORINA.' Origination: Originated under the supervlSlon of Herbert C. Swim, of Ontario, California, U.S.A., in the spring of 1948 as a cross of Ca17lelli,z japonica 'Lady Vansittart' x Camellia japonica 'Coquetti.' Description: Flowers are characterized by a variation between a completely formal fully imbricated flower to one with imbricated outer petals and a tufted centre of varying size. The flowers vary somewhat in colour also, ranging from Cherry Red to a rather deep Orange Red similar to the C. japonica 'Coquetti' ('Glen 40'). The plant is free growing and less stiff in habit than the pollen parent, but rhe foliage resembles more closely that of the pollen parent than of the seed parent. Introducer: Armstrong Nurseries, Inc., Ontario, California, U.S.A.

ERRATA. Will members kindly make the following corrections in their International Camellia Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3:­ Page 69. The French description of 'Euterpe' listed by Van Houtte in 1851 should read: "Imbrication parfaite, rose a bandelette blanche unique fac;:on Rubini." Page 74. "Lady St, Clare" should be 'Lady St. Clair.'

95 Book Review

Camellias of lapan. Edited by Takasi Tuyama, 2 volumes, Hirakawa Publishing Company, Inc., Tokyo, Japan, $50.00. Camellias of Japan is an extremely important addition to camellia literature. Professor Tuyama assisted by other noted Japanese authorities has compiled not only a thorough review of the botanical and cultural aspects of camellias, but also described and illustrated in colour 420 of the most outstanding camellias grown in Japan. The work is in two volumes. Volume I containing the text has 216 pages in English, 67 in Japanese and in addition there is an appendix containing reproductions of old Japanese camellia manuscripts and a fascinating map of the garden of Ihei Ito who died in 1757 and was one of Japan's most famous horticulturalists. The chapters dealing with camellia history, origin, ecology, genetics and culture display an intense study of Japanese camellias. They reveal the vast store of knowledge which has been built up during the centuries of camellia culture in the East and the great activity of present­ day Japanese botanists. The comprehensive descriptions of 420 camellias are a most valuable contribution to nomenclature. A leaf of each cultivar is illustrated in black and white. . Volume 2 is devoted to half-page colour illustrations of all the cnltivars described. The colour is of the very high' standard which one .expects fram Japan. The illustrations are in colour groups which makes comparison and identification very much easier.

Camellias of Japan is essential to everyone seriously interested in camellia literature and is a book which will be treasured by all who love camellias.

CHARLES PUDDLE

Camellias of Japan can be ordered through the International Camellia Society. 96 The Magnolia Specialists MAGNOLIA GARDENS STOiDMARSH ROAD - CANTERBURY .- ENGLAND (A. A. PICKARD) Acknowledged as 'an outstanding source of hardy garden varieties of Magnolias. Several of our own registration and introduction. One of the largest collections of garden Magnolias available. We supply many leading arboretums and gardens. Strong established plants, 4-6 years old, mainly with flower buds when despatched and with a powerhouse of roots capable of defying your errors. Plants grown in large containers can be collected at any time of the year. Open 9 a.m. until dusk. S.A.E. FOR LIST Magnolia Gardens, Stodmarsh Rd., Canterbury, Engla,nd

WANTED Old Horticultural Books with any text on history Or culture of CAMELLIAS Publications i1z any language desired. Also interested in colour plates, catalogues, paintings, prints, etc. Would like to hear from book sellers and Camellia friends who would be willing to help search for books, in return for scions of American varieties.

Write for Want List to guide you in your search i George E. New-ton 529, PEARLSTREET .. FAYETTEVILLE - N.C. -U.S.A. Camellia Lodge Nursery 348-350 PRINCESS HIGHWAY - NOBLE PARK VICTORIA - AUSTRALIA

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