Camellia kissi
| Camellia kissi | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 8 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Evergreen | |
| Height: | 39' |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Camellia kissi
Propagation: Seed - can be sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse[1]. Stored seed should be pre-soaked for 24 hours in warm water and the hard covering around the micropyle should be filed down to leave a thin covering[2][1][3]. It usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 23°c[3]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions when they are more than 15cm tall and give them some protection from winter cold for their first year or three outdoors[K].
Cuttings of almost ripe wood, 10 - 15cm with a heel, August/September in a shaded frame. High percentage but slow[2].
Cuttings of firm wood, 7 - 10cm with a heel, end of June in a frame[4][2]. Keep in a cool greenhouse for the first year[4].
Leaf-bud cuttings, July/August in a frame.
Cultivation: Prefers a woodland soil but thrives in a warm open well-drained loam if leafmould is added[5][4][6]. A calcifuge plant, preferring a pH between 5 and 7[4][6]. Prefers the partial shade of a light woodland[6].
Prefers a wet summer and a cool but not very frosty dry winter[6].
Plants are not very self-compatible, self-fertilized flowers produce few seeds and these are of low viability[6].
This species is sometimes cultivated in China for the edible oil contained in its seed.
Range: E. Asia - C. Nepal to S.W. China.
Habitat: Forests and shrubberies in evergreen forests, 1000 - 2100 metres[7]. Moist ground in hill forests at elevations of 900 - 2100 metres in Nepal[8].
Edibility: An oil is obtained from the seed[9]. It is used for cooking[8].
A tea is made from the steamed then dried leaves[7][10][11][8]. It is used as a substitute for China tea (obtained from C. sinensis)[12][13].
The flowers are boiled then pickled[8].
The fruit is said to be edible[10][11]. This seems a very strange report, the fruit is a dry wooden capsule[K].
Medicinal: The oil is much valued in medicine[9]. No more details given.
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
In Leaf: Evergreen
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: C. drupifera. Dyer, non Lour.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dirr, Michael and Charles Heuser. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press, 1987.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bird, R. Growing from Seed Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan, 1989.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Polunin, Oleg and Adam Stainton. Flowers of the Himalayas. Oxford Universtiy Press, 1984.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Manandhar, Narayan. Plants and People of Nepal. Timber Press, 2002.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Kunming Institute of Botany. Yunnan Camellias of China.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.
- ↑ Manandhar, N. Medicinal Plants of Nepal Himalaya. Department of Medicinal Plants, 1993.