Camellia flower language and symbolic meaning, taking you through the world's flower language compendium
Camellias bloom at the turn of winter and spring, with full, dignified and elegant flowers; they are one of China's traditional top ten famous flowers and one of the world's famous flowers. Guo Moruo praised them: “A camellia tree blooms early with peach-red, a hundred crimson clouds proudly standing in the midst.” The camellia has both the proud plum-like character of “only the camellia endures so long, alone it can occupy the spring wind in the deep moon” and the peony-surpassing brilliance of “flowers lush and brilliantly red, deeply surpassing the morning clouds.” Therefore, since ancient times it has been a highly famous woody ornamental flower, reaching its peak in the Tang and Song dynasties, and after being introduced to Europe in the 17th century it also caused a sensation, thus earning the fine name of “world-famous flower.”
The flower language of the camellia is: ideal love, modesty. It is said that camellias always bloom quietly in courtyards when the weather turns slightly cool in late autumn. When a camellia withers, the whole flower does not fall off; instead, the petals wither one by one, slowly, until life ends. This careful, reluctant way of withering is just like people's attitude in pursuing an ideal partner, so gradually the camellia became a spokesperson for expressing feelings to a woman one admires. In winter, when almost all flowers have withered, the red camellia seems especially warm and full of life. Moreover, planted in a courtyard it also lets people enjoy her faint fragrance. Therefore, the camellia makes people feel loveliness, modesty, ideal love, caution, and wonderful charm.
Camellia is also called camellia, a plant of the Theaceae family and Camellia genus, anciently named sea pomegranate.
There are extremely many camellia cultivars; it is a traditional Chinese ornamental flower, ranked eighth among the “top ten famous flowers,” and is also one of the world's precious ornamental trees and flowers. It is the provincial flower of Yunnan Province, the city flower of Chongqing, Ningbo in Zhejiang, and other cities, and the prefectural flower of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province.
White camellia: innocence and purity, loveliness, perfect charm, true affection, ideal love, elegance.
Red camellia: innate beauty, the virtue of humility, modesty, noble rationality.
Pink-white camellia: wastefulness, fashionableness.
Pink camellia: overcoming difficulties.
Characteristics of the camellia:
Camellia is a shrub or small tree. The leaves are leathery, elliptical, 5-10 cm long and 2.5-5 cm wide, with a slightly pointed apex, or abruptly short-pointed with a blunt tip, and a broad wedge-shaped base. The petiole is 8-15 mm long and hairless.
The stamens are in 3 whorls, about 2.5-3 cm long; the filaments of the outer whorl are fused at the base, with the filament tube 1.5 cm long and hairless; the stamens of the inner whorl are free, slightly shorter; the ovary is hairless, and the style is 2.5 cm long.
Cultivated camellia varieties have a relatively long flowering period, generally beginning to bloom in October and ending in May of the following year, with the peak blooming period from January to March.
The flower colors are gorgeous and varied, the flower shapes are elegant and diverse, the flower postures are graceful in many forms, and the fragrance is striking. There are many varieties; most flowers are red or pale red, and some are white, mostly double-flowered.