August Plant Profile: Camellia sasanqua
Scientific Name: Camellia sasanqua
Common Name: sasanqua camellia; the Japanese name for all camellias is tsubaki,“tree with shining leaves,” while the Japanese name for Camellia sasanqua is sazanka, “plum-flowered tea.”
Family: Theaceae
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Native Range: Lowland forests of southern Japan
Culture/Habit: Organically rich, evenly moist, well-drained soils in shade to sun. Small trees to 16 feet tall or vining shrubs growing wider than tall, often depending on sun exposure.
Location in the Arboretum: Winter Garden (grids 34-2E, 35-1E,2E) and the Camellia collection in Rhododendron Glen along both sides of Arboretum Drive (grids 10-2E thru 7E, 11-4E thru 7E, 12-7E, 13-7E)
I was surprised to read during my research that there are over 200 recognized species of Camellia, all being native to Asia, while the official number of Camellia varieties is beyond 20,000 and growing according to the American Camellia Society. Admittedly, even though the UW Botanic Gardens contains an extensive and nationally recognized Camellia collection, only 8 individual species are represented. As such I must qualify my experience and so my opinions as being provincial regarding the grand and important Camellia genus. Having said that, being a lover of the woodland garden tapestry, my personal camellia of choice would be the sasanqua camellia. The form of a Camellia sasanqua, as opposed to a Camellia japonica in particular, could be best summed up by the word ‘grace’. While C. japonica are dense masses with fairly massive flowers, C. sasanqua is looser in structure, fitting into its space rather than imposing upon it. And the flowers of sasanqua camellias possess an elegance which never fails to capture my eye and hold me mesmerized (particularly in the case of a clear, shell pink, semi-double cultivar). Sasanqua camellias that are grown as part of a forest matrix can twine their branches into spaces and peek out of openings. Though not nearly as massive as C. japonica, by growing more openly C. sasanqua gives a greater feeling of depth.
In 1753, the genus Camellia was so named by Linnaeus to honor the Moravian Jesuit missionary George Joseph Kamel, making the original pronunciation ca-MELL-ia. It was not until 1848 when Alexandre Dumas wrote the novel La Dame aux Camélias.
, which became the play Camille, that the pronunciation was popularized to ca-MEEL-ya. Oddly, there is no historical account of Kamel, whose work was done in the Philippines, actually encountering a camellia himself. In Japan, Camellia sasanqua was known as sazanka, meaning “plum-flowered tea,”,leading to the specific epithet of sasanqua. Indeed, historically the Japanese would dry the aromatic leaves and fragrant flowers of sazanka to add to their tea to increase its bouquet.
In addition to the aromatic functionalities of the sazanka, other elements of the plant have found uses in traditional Japanese culture. While tea is only made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, many Camellia species are used to produce a high-quality seed oil for use in cooking and medicine. Modern science is now conducting research regarding the health benefits of Camellia species, including C. sasanqua. The main bioactive components present in oils from the seeds of Camellia are fatty acids, vitamin E, squalene, phytosterol, flavonoids, and polyphenols. Numerous studies have now demonstrated the potential health benefits of Camellia seed oil, including regulation of lipid and blood pressure levels, inhibition tumor growth, protection against Alzheimer’s disease, and its anti-asthmatic, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial (particularly against E. coli) properties.
Camellia sasanqua is native to the southern islands of Japan, mostly to the forests of lower elevation mountains. Being hardy to only 5 degrees Fahrenheit, C. sasanqua has a much more limited distribution than its stouter cousin, C. japonica. The flowers of sasanqua camellias, in contrast to the traditionally more popular C. japonica, tend to be smaller and daintier, having just 5-8 petals per single flower and measuring around 3 inches in diameter. Color for wild-type sasanqua camellias is white, perhaps with just an occasional touch of pink. These have now been bred to include the full spectrum of colors between pure white and deep red. Semi-double and double cultivars are also commonly available. One of my favorite qualities of Camellia sasanqua is that entire flowers drop cleanly off the plant when the flower is spent, maintaining a tidy specimen and allowing the remaining flowers to always have center stage. Interestingly, this attribute in Japan has connotations of beheading, so cut flowers of sasanqua camellias are considered bad luck.
Camellia sasanqua, being a forest understory tree or shrub, grows well in sun or shade; however, hot afternoon sun – even in the Pacific Northwest – can scorch the leaves and petals. Camellia sasanqua requires evenly moist soil and is hardy only to USDA zone 7, so proper siting is important. Camellia sasanqua is a fall blooming Camellia, beginning from September to December depending on the plant. From personal experience I have discovered that deer find sasanqua camellias to be delicious and more than once a planted acquisition has not survived a single night unfenced.
To visit the camellias of the Washington Park Arboretum, one must travel to either the Witt Winter Garden or to Rhododendron Glen. Camellia sasanqua and its hybrids make up much of the northern structure in the Witt Winter Garden. In Rhododendron Glen, most of the UWBG’s collection of camellias can be accessed from Arboretum drive, just to the north of the Pacific Collections Garden. Within the UWBG’s extensive collection, it would be best to visit during the autumn months to more easily pick out Camellia sasanqua from the spring-blooming Camellia japonica.
Sources:
Zhe Li, Ao Liu, Qing Du, Weifeng Zhu, Hongning Liu, Abid Naeem, Yongmei Guan, Lihua Chen, Liangshan Ming, Bioactive substances and therapeutic potential of camellia oil: An overview, Food Bioscience, Volume 49, 2022, 101855
Missouri Botanical Garden, missouribotanicalgarden.org
The American Camellia Society, Americancamellias.com
The Herb Society of America, herbsocietyblog.wordpress.com
Wikipedia, Wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Dame_aux_Camélias
Seattle Japanese Garden, seattlejapanesegarden.org “Sasanqua Camellias: Quiet Beauties of the Fall and Winter Garden”
Chidamian, Claude, Camellias For Everyone, Doubleday & Company, INC., Garden City NY, 1959