''Camellia hongkongensis'' (), the Hong Kong camellia, is a species of ''
camellia
''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controvers ...
''.
Description
''Camellia hongkongensis'' is a small
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
which can grow to feet tall. Of the camellia species native to Hong Kong, only this species bears red flowers.
Its young branches are reddish brown. The leaves are leathery and oblong with 7–13 cm long. The young branches and leaf are glabrous.
Distribution
In
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, three individuals of the species were first discovered in a ravine in
Victoria Peak
Victoria Peak is a hill on the western half of Hong Kong Island. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak only generally. With an elevation of , it is the highest hill on Hong Kong Island, ranked 29 in terms of elevation in H ...
by Colonel Eyre in 1849. It was later found in
Pok Fu Lam
Pok Fu Lam or Pokfulam is a residential area on Hong Kong Island, at the western end of the Southern District. It is a valley between Victoria Peak and Mount Kellett, around Telegraph Bay.
Pok Fu Lam can claim several ''firsts'' in the hi ...
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
.
Specimens of the Hong Kong camellia are living in the
Shing Mun Arboretum
The Shing Mun Country Park (established 24 June 1977) is a country park of Hong Kong, hugging the Shing Mun Reservoir.
Location
Located in the central New Territories, it covers a total of . It extends from Lead Mine Pass in the north, to the Shin ...
public gardens. In Hong Kong, it is a protected species under Forestry Regulations Cap. 96A.
''Camellia hongkongensis'' was introduced to Japan in 1958 from
Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens
The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is one of the oldest zoological and botanical centres in the world, and the oldest park in Hong Kong. Founded in 1864, its first stage was opened to the public in 1871.Grantham's camellia