Camellia flower identification

[StPaddy]

can anyone ID this camellia? Flowers in fall/winter location socal coastal…couple pics for ya. Collected summer before last. Just repotted couple days ago…

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

There are at least dozens if not hundreds, of "double red" flowered camellia hybrids, no way possible to be really certain which cultivar you have. There is no DNA database for camellia hybrids. You can compare photos, and make a guess, but it will only be a guess.

Your best course is to label this "lost tag" Camellia hybrid, double red flowers, and go forward. This is similar to loosing the pedigree papers for a purebred dog. Sure, it looks like a purebred dog, but without the papers, it's not getting into the dog show as a purebred.

Good record keeping is part of good horticulture. Renewing or replacing brittle labels every 5 to 10 years, and keeping a written record somewhere as a backup is important.

I have a number of "no ID" orchids that can not be exhibited or used for creating hybrids because I lost the tags. So my comments are from painful experience.

Once the label is lost, provenance is lost, you now posses a "mutt". It is important to be careful with those sometimes annoying labels. If you don't keep the labels in the pot, store them with records that help you link label to the specific plant.

Buy extra labels, pencil on plastic labels faded slowly over a 10 years period. Magic marker and most inks on plastic are fugitive, fading rapidly in sunlight, becoming invisible in a very short window of time. For me magi markers last nice about 2 years, then in less than month will fade away completely. Pencil fades so slowly that you usually can with a little effort make out the writing even over a year after it was faded.

 

[StPaddy]

Well

There are at least dozens if not hundreds, of "double red" flowered camellia hybrids, no way possible to be really certain which cultivar you have. There is no DNA database for camellia hybrids. You can compare photos, and make a guess, but it will only be a guess.

Your best course is to label this "lost tag" Camellia hybrid, double red flowers, and go forward. This is similar to loosing the pedigree papers for a purebred dog. Sure, it looks like a purebred dog, but without the papers, it's not getting into the dog show as a purebred.

Good record keeping is part of good horticulture. Renewing or replacing brittle labels every 5 to 10 years, and keeping a written record somewhere as a backup is important.

I have a number of "no ID" orchids that can not be exhibited or used for creating hybrids because I lost the tags. So my comments are from painful experience.

Once the label is lost, provenance is lost, you now posses a "mutt". It is important to be careful with those sometimes annoying labels. If you don't keep the labels in the pot, store them with records that help you link label to the specific plant.

Buy extra labels, pencil on plastic labels faded slowly over a 10 years period. Magic marker and most inks on plastic are fugitive, fading rapidly in sunlight, becoming invisible in a very short window of time. For me magi markers last nice about 2 years, then in less than month will fade away completely. Pencil fades so slowly that you usually can with a little effort make out the writing even over a year after it was faded.

I got it from a garden that was being re landscaped for free. Never got any info other than “you can dig and take what you want…” so I guess it’s a rescue plant just was wondering if anyone had a clue…anyhow thanks.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Well

I got it from a garden that was being re landscaped for free. Never got any info other than “you can dig and take what you want…” so I guess it’s a rescue plant just was wondering if anyone had a clue…anyhow thanks.

It's a beautiful flower, and will make a lovely bonsai with time. Enjoy it for what it is, a no name camellia with a really nice flower. Luckily for bonsai shows you usually do not need to know the cultivar name. For a camellia show, you would have to have the name.

How far are you from the Huntington Library and Botanic Garden? They may know what cultivars were most commonly planted in the LA area.

Browse Camellia Forest's website, you might find a good match.

Camellia Forest Nursery

Specializing in Camellias as well as trees and shrubs of Asian origin, we strive to deliver to your door healthy, vigorous plants that represent the wide variety within the Camellia genus.

camforest.com

 

[Laura H]

Contact Nuccios in Pasadena for help identifying this.

 

[StPaddy]

Will do thank you sir. I’m not an hour from the Huntington. That’s a great idea.

 

[StPaddy]

Contact Nuccios in Pasadena for help identifying this.

Thanks a bunch. Been meaning to take a trip there.