camellia Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun any of several shrubs or small evergreen trees having solitary white or pink or reddish flowers
camelia.

NL.; -- named after Kamel, a Jesuit who is said to have brought it from the East.

(Bot.) An Asiatic genus of small shrubs, often with shining leaves and showy flowers. Camelia Japonica is much cultivated for ornament, and C. Sassanqua and C. Oleifera are grown in China for the oil which is pressed from their seeds. The tea plant is now referred to this genus under the name of Camellia Thea.