Herb latin name: Camellia kissi


Synonyms: Camellia drupifera


Family: Theaceae (Tea Family)



Medicinal use of Camellia kissi:

The oil is much valued in medicine. No more details given.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Evergreen
Shrub

Height:
12 m
(39 feet)

Habitat of the herb:

Forests and shrubberies in evergreen forests, 1000 - 2100 metres. Moist ground in hill forests at elevations of 900 - 2100 metres in Nepal.

Edible parts of Camellia kissi:

An oil is obtained from the seed. It is used for cooking. A tea is made from the steamed then dried leaves. It is used as a substitute for China tea (obtained from C. sinensis). The flowers are boiled then pickled. The fruit is said to be edible. This seems a very strange report, the fruit is a dry wooden capsule.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - can be sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse. Stored seed should be pre-soaked for 24 hours in warm water and the hard covering around the micropyle should be filed down to leave a thin covering. It usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 23°C. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions when they are more than 15cm tall and give them some protection from winter cold for their first year or three outdoors. Cuttings of almost ripe wood, 10 - 15cm with a heel, August/September in a shaded frame. High percentage but slow. Cuttings of firm wood, 7 - 10cm with a heel, end of June in a frame. Keep in a cool greenhouse for the first year. Leaf-bud cuttings, July/August in a frame.

Cultivation of Camellia kissi:

Forests and shrubberies in evergreen forests, 1000 - 2100 metres. Moist ground in hill forests at elevations of 900 - 2100 metres in Nepal.

Known hazards of Camellia kissi:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.