Christmas Camellia (Camellia sasanqua)
Dec 1st, 2011, by Alex Zorach
This photo shows a Christmas camellia (Camellia sasanqua) planted in West Philadelphia near the intersection of 43rd St. and Chester. This plant is a rather unusual plant in that it flowers very late, when few other plants are flowering. This particular plant still shows many unopened flower buds at the beginning of December. I'm not quite sure if this plant is going to keep flowering the whole way to Christmas in this climate, although it has a chance of doing so as this has been a rather mild late fall season.
This photo was featured in my blog post about the Christmas camellia and its relationship to the tea plant.