Camellia chekiangoleosa — Edible Plant

Summary

An evergreen shrub growing to 6 m tall with year-round foliage. Flowers appear April to June with seeds maturing in October. Bee-pollinated hermaphrodite. Prefers light sandy or medium loamy well-drained soils in mildly acid to very acid conditions. Grows in semi-shade or full sun with preference for moist soil. Hardy to UK zone 8.

Description

An evergreen shrub growing to 6 m tall with year-round foliage. Flowers appear April to June with seeds maturing in October. Bee-pollinated hermaphrodite. Prefers light sandy or medium loamy well-drained soils in mildly acid to very acid conditions. Grows in semi-shade or full sun with preference for moist soil. Hardy to UK zone 8.

Edible Uses

An oil is obtained from the seed. Of good quality, it is used for cooking. The globose capsule is 40 - 75mm in diameter, 3-loculed with 3 - 8 brown, glabrous seeds per locule.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Distribution

It is a temperate plant.

Where It Grows

Asia, China,

Cultivation

Prefers a woodland soil but thrives in a warm open well-drained loam if leafmould is added. A calcifuge plant, preferring a pH between 5 and 7. Prefers the partial shade of a light woodland. Prefers a wet summer and a cool but not very frosty dry winter. Plants are not very self-compatible, self-fertilized flowers produce few seeds and these are of low viability. This species is a valuable oil crop and is cultivated for its oil in Chekiang, China. It is closely related to C. japonica.

Propagation

Seed - can be sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse. 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. It usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 23°c. 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. Cuttings of almost ripe wood, 10 - 15cm with a heel, August/September in a shaded frame. High percentage but slow. Cuttings of firm wood, 7 - 10cm with a heel, end of June in a frame. Keep in a cool greenhouse for the first year. Leaf-bud cuttings, July/August in a frame.

Other Uses

Oil None known Special Uses

References (1)

Wen, Q., et al, 2017, The population genetic structure and conservation strategies of Camellia chekiangoleosa analysed by SSR Markers. China Botanical Congress