The genus Camellia belongs to the family Theaceae, dicotyledonous angiosperm plants.
Known as a flowering plant actually produces a very hard wood in the countries of origin, China and Japan, where it looks like a shrub that exceeds eleven feet tall. Its peculiarities, such as glossy and leathery leaves with smooth margins, lanceolate and pointed, the flower simple (two rounds of petals), semi-double or double, make it a wonderful protagonist of our gardens.
There are thousands of species, but the best known is certainly the Camellia Japonica, native to Asia, Japan and Korea, characterized by glossy leaves and leathery, oval or elliptical, petiolate and with serrated edges. It flowers in our climate from December to April, mainly in March, producing solitary flowers at the top of the side shoots, white, pink, red and purple, with infinite shades in between.
The Camellia sinensis, native to China and India, looks like an evergreen tree with small yellow and white flowers in groups very fragrant. The leaves are alternate, elliptic, are tucked at the base with dark teeth. Flowering takes place in the winter or autumn.
The Camellia reticulata, of Chinese origin, gives us very large flowers, white or pink with a particularly intense.
The spectacle of flowering plants that give us these wonderful find him definitely in the Parish of St. Andrew-task in Capannori. Thanks to a process of engagement in cycles of 3-4 years you have the possibility to admire the origins of these shrubs. Along the river at the foot of the mountain Serra can be overwhelmed by the nuances of more than 800 varieties of camellias that bloom from December to April, a camelias in the countryside and a relaxing background of the river flowing.
