Commemorating Christopher Ternstroem (d. 1748), Swedish naturalist.
Evergreen trees and shrubs. Leaves spirally arranged, entire, leathery, clustered at the tips of the branches. Flowers bisexual or unisexual, axillary, solitary. Sepals 5. Petals 5 sometimes united at the base. Stamens mostly 15-many. Ovary superior with 2-3 chambers. Fruit not splitting open.
Rarely cultivated in Australia.
Cuttings.
Leaves in clusters at the ends of branches.
85 species mostly tropical (in Australia 1 species, T. cherryi occurs naturally in Qld and NT).
Kobuski (1961)
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.
