About 100–250 species, including:
Camellia assimilis
Camellia azalea
Camellia brevistyla
Camellia caudata
Camellia chekiangoleosa
Camellia chrysantha – Golden Camellia
Camellia connata
Camellia crapnelliana
Camellia cuspidata
Camellia euphlebia
Camellia euryoides
Camellia forrestii
Camellia fraterna
Camellia furfuracea
Camellia granthamiana
Camellia grijsii
Camellia hongkongensis - Hong Kong Camellia
Camellia irrawadiensis
Camellia japonica – Japanese Camellia
Camellia kissii
Camellia lutchuensis
Camellia miyagii
Camellia nitidissima - Camellia chrysantha, Yellow Camellia
Camellia nokoensis
Camellia oleifera - Tea Oil Camellia, Oil-seed Camellia
Camellia parviflora
Camellia pitardii
Camellia polyodonta
Camellia reticulata
Camellia rosiflora
Camellia rusticana – Snow Camellia
Camellia salicifolia
Camellia saluenensis
Camellia sasanqua – Christmas Camellia
Camellia semiserrata
Camellia sinensis – Tea
Camellia taliensis
Camellia transnokoensis
Camellia tsaii
Camellia vietnamensis
Camellia yunnanensis
Camellia (Chinese: 茶花; Pinyin: Cháhuā) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, native to eastern and southern Asia from the Himalaya east to Japan and Indonesia. There are 100–250 existent species, with some controversy over the exact number. The genus was named by Linnaeus after Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel.
They are evergreen shrubs and small trees 2–20 m tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, thick, serrated, usually glossy, and 3–17 cm long. The flowers are large and conspicuous, 1–12 cm diameter, with (in natural conditions) 5–9 petals; colour varies from white to pink and red, and yellow in a few species. The fruit is a dry capsule, sometimes subdivided into up to 5 compartments, each compartment containing up to 8 seeds.
The genus is generally adapted to acidic soils, and does not grow well on chalk or other calcium-rich soils. Most species also have a high rainfall requirement and will not tolerate drought. Some Camellias have been known to grow without much rainfall.
Camellia species are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species. See List of Lepidoptera which feed on Camellia.