Its widespread cultivation can be traced back to the Song Dynasty, when 15 varieties of Camellia japonica were recorded in literature.

[6] The fruit consists of a globe-shaped capsule with three compartments (locules), each with one or two large brown seeds with a diameter of 1–2 centimetres (0.4–0.8 in).

The reason Camellia japonica got its name was that Engelbert Kaempfer was one of the first Europeans to give a description of the plant when he first saw it in Japan.

[9] In Japan it is known by the common name "yuki-tsubaki" (snow camellia) as it naturally occurs in areas of heavy snowfall at altitudes ranging from 1,100 metres (3,500 ft) down to 120 metres (400 ft) on sloping land under deciduous beech trees in the mountain regions to the north of the main island of Honshu and facing the Sea of Japan.

In December heavy drifts of snow come in from the north, covering the plants to a depth of up to 2.4 metres (8 ft).

[citation needed] Camellia japonica has appeared in paintings and porcelain in China since the 11th century.

[13] For many years Macarthur's nursery was one of the main sources of supply to the colony in Australia of ornamental plants, as well as fruit trees and vines.

[15] Camellia and other flowers from Sheather's nursery were sent by steamship downriver to florists at Sydney Markets, tied in bunches and suspended from long pieces of wood which were hung up about the decks.

[18][19] By 1883, Shepherd and Company, the leading nurserymen in Australia at the time, listed 160 varieties of Camellia japonica.

[13] Associate Professor Eben Gowrie Waterhouse was a scholar, linguist, garden designer and camellia expert who brought about a worldwide revival of interest in the genus in the first half of the twentieth century.

[21] According to a research conducted in 1959, by Dr. Frederick Meyer, of the United States Department of Agriculture, the camellias of Campo Bello (Portugal) are the oldest known specimens in Europe, which would have been planted around 1550, that is to say, these trees are nowadays approximately 460 years old.

[22] However it is said that the camellia was first brought to the West in 1692 by Engelbert Kaempfer, Chief Surgeon to the Dutch East India Company.

[citation needed] Camellias were introduced into Europe during the 18th century and had already been cultivated in the Orient for thousands of years.

[23] The oldest trees of Camellia japonica in Europe can be found in Campobello (Portugal), Caserta (Italy) and Pillnitz (Germany).

[citation needed] Cross-breeding of camellias has produced many cultivars which are tolerant of hardiness zone 6 winters.

These camellia varieties can grow in the milder parts of the lower Midwest (St. Louis, for example), Pacific Northwest, NYC area (NYC/NJ/CT), and even Ontario, Canada (near edge of the Great Lakes).

It blooms earlier than most cultivated camellias, in the early winter or spring, and can flower for 4 to 5 months.

[30] The following is a selection of cultivars that have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit: For a full list of AGM camellia cultivars, see List of Award of Garden Merit camellias Camellia flower forms are quite varied but the main types are single, semi-double, formal double, informal double and elegans (or anemone) form.

[citation needed] Two or more rows of large regular, irregular or loose outer petals (nine or more) with an uninterrupted cluster of stamens.

[citation needed] Many rows and number of petals (sometimes more than a hundred), regularly disposed, tiered or imbricated, but no visible stamens.

[citation needed] One or more rows of large outer petals lying flat or undulating, with a mass of intermingled petaloids and stamens in the center.

[citation needed] Camellias should be planted in the shade in organic, somewhat acidic, semi-moist but well drained soil.

[63] Some fungal and algal diseases include: Spot Disease, which gives the upper side of leaves a silver color and round spots, and can cause loss of leaves; Black Mold; Leaf Spot; Leaf Gall; Flower Blight, which causes flowers to become brown and fall; Root Rot; and Canker caused by the fungus Glomerella cingulata, which penetrates plants through wounds.

[citation needed] Some physiological diseases include salt injury which results from high levels of salt in soil; chlorosis which is thought to be caused lack of certain elements in the soil or insufficient acidity preventing their absorption by the roots; bud drop which causes loss or decay of buds, and can be caused by over-watering, high temperatures, or pot-bound roots.

But light looked on me from a holier sphere, To draw me heavenward — then I rose and shone; And can I vainly to thine eye appear, Thou dust-born gazer?

From thy dark dwelling look thou forth, and see The purer beams that brings a lovelier change for thee.