Shrub or small tree. Leaves large, strongly veined. Flowers mostly 10-14 cm wide, petals 8, white. Bracts and sepals 12, densely silky hairy outside. Styles 5. Fruit 5-parted.
It is believed that plants of this species in both America and Australia originated from introductions first made by Alex Jessep from Hong Kong in 1958.
Hong Kong, S China
Large flowers with prominent central stamen cluster; leaves with a shiny, puckered surface.
This species is a member of the subgenus Protocamellia which has 5-chambered ovaries with 5-parted styles: the only other species occasionally cultivated in this subgenus is C. yunnanensis (Diels) Cohen-Stuart which has much shorter leaves and petals.
Source: (1997). Camellia. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
