Camellia chekiangoleosa Seeds | Zhejiang Oil Camellia

Zhejiang oil camellia with large deep red flowers — Zhejiang oil camellia (*Camellia chekiangoleosa*): Theaceae, native to south-east China.

LATIN NAME: Camellia chekiangoleosa

COMMON NAME: Zhejiang Oil Camellia

Plant Profile

Camellia chekiangoleosa is an evergreen shrub or small tree of Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, growing three to six metres tall with glossy, leathery leaves and some of the largest flowers in the genus: single, cup-shaped and deep red, eight to twelve centimetres across, opening in late winter.

It is one of the oil camellias, grown for the seed rather than the flower. The fruit is a woody capsule that splits in autumn to release two or three large brown seeds, each about the size of a hazelnut and rich in oil. The leaf margins are finely toothed and the new growth is bronze before it darkens.

Science & Biotechnology

The seed contains fifty to sixty per cent oil, high in oleic acid and low in saturated fat, which is why camellia oil is prized for cooking in southern China and for skin care in Japan. The oil is pressed cold for food and refined for cosmetics, and the cake left after pressing is used as a fish poison and as a fertiliser, since it contains saponins.

The genus is self-incompatible in many species, and C. chekiangoleosa sets more fruit when another camellia flowers nearby. Flowering in late winter means the flowers are often damaged by frost, and the crop varies with the weather during the two weeks of bloom. The seed is also pressed for lamp oil in some districts, and the residue after pressing is formed into cakes for washing, a use that goes back centuries in Zhejiang.

Uses & Benefits

Oil is the main product: it is used for cooking, for frying and for dressing, and it has a high smoke point and a mild, nutty taste. The seed cake is used as a natural shampoo and as a pesticide in ponds, though the saponins make it toxic to fish at the wrong dose.

The tree is also grown as an ornamental for its winter flowers, which are among the largest of any camellia and are produced on a plant that will take light frost. The wood is hard and close-grained and is used for small tools and for furniture inlay.

Growing from Seed

Seed should be sown fresh, in autumn, since it loses viability when dried. Sow two centimetres deep in an acid mix at pH 5 to 6, keep the pots outdoors through winter, and expect germination in spring. Cuttings of semi-ripe wood in summer are slower but give a known flower.

Plants need acid soil, part shade and good drainage, and they resent both drought and waterlogging. They begin to crop at five to seven years and reach full production at fifteen. Prune lightly after flowering to keep the canopy open, and mulch with leaf mould, since the roots are shallow and easily damaged by cultivation.

Our Take

A camellia grown for oil rather than ornament, though the winter flowers are worth having on their own, and the pressed seed gives an oil worth the wait.

Tree Seeds