COMMEMORATIVE names so abound in catalogues of plants that a garden may be regarded, not only as a selected portion of the book of nature, but also of the book of men. A large proportion of our most valued plants are, by virtue of the familiar names they bear, living memorials of the masters of the world, whose names a grateful posterity would not willingly let die, and has therefore associated them with things that may be regarded as everlasting; for Nature will take care of her own children, even when our neglect may have exposed them to the danger of extinction.

The camellia bears a commemorative name. George Joseph Camellus, or Kamel, was a Moravian Jesuit, and travelled in Asia. Being a botanist and a careful collector of curiosities, he wrote an admirable monograph on the vegetation of the Isle of Luzon, the most northerly of the Philippines. This work our great John Ray, the forerunner of the greater Linnaeus, embodied in his "History of Plants."

That the Camellia Japonica is the grandest of our conservatory and garden shrubs the reader of this sketch does not need to be informed, and in the brief space at our command we will endeavour to do better than eulogise its beauty. The plant was introduced to this country by Lord Petre some time before the year 1739, and the first plants were killed by being placed in too high a temperature. Thus at the very first start a lesson was learned, and in the same direction there is yet another lesson to be learned, as will be stated presently. On turning to that treasury of things new and old, the Botanical Magazine, we find a figure of the camellia in the volume published in 1790, the number of the figure being 42. From the accompanying notice we learn that it had then been several times figured, as by Thunberg, in his "Flora of Japan," t. 273, by Kaempfer, in his "Amaenitates," t.851, and in other works. Its original and proper name is Camellia Japonica, but it has been also called Tsubaki, Rosa Chinensis, and Thea Chinensis. The last-cited name makes occasion for the remark that the tea-plant is closely allied to the camellia, and several sorts of true camellia are available as tea-plants. Those who can take interest in the economical view of the subject will not object to be told that the leaves of Camellia sasangua are dried to mix with tea for the communication to it of a grateful odour. A Nepaul species, known as Camellia kissi, is so much characterised by the flavour and odour of tea, that it might be employed for the same purpose. But the true tree-plant (Thea) is so hardy, and possesses in such a striking manner the properties for the sake of which tea is consumed, that the camellias may be very properly neglected as possible tea-plants that nobody wants.

Another matter of some interest is that the camellia displays but a shadow of its true beauty when grown as a pot-plant, but has no equal for massive grandeur of leafage and floral splendour in its season when planted out in a spacious conservatory, and encouraged to grow freely, with scarcely any pruning, and subjected to no more artificial heat than suffices to keep the plants safe from frost.

And this brings us to the next chapter in this short treatise, and the purport of this chapter is to declare that the camellia is so hardy that it may be grown in the open ground in all fairly favourable spots on the southern side of the Trent, and even far to the north of the Solway, in the moist warm valleys of the western coasts, where the waters of the Atlantic bring with them some of the spare warmth of the Gulf Stream. Throughout Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, the camellia only needs to be sheltered from strong winds to thrive perfectly without any special care, and a north-by-west aspect appears to suit it better than east or south. As a wall-tree it answers as well as any magnolia, but it is still better situated if standing far away from walls, yet enjoying shelter, with free air and light.

The cultivation of the camellia cannot be dismissed in the usual way by saying it is a very simple matter. In truth, it is a matter of some difficulty to do the thing well, for any serious mistake will result in the shedding of the flower-buds just at the time when they should be opening into flowers, while systematic mismanagement will result in a poor growth, naked stems, diseased leaves, and an absence of flowers. The chief point in the management is the watering. If the soil becomes sour with stagnant water, mischief must follow; and if the roots are dry for any length of time, the flower-buds will be likely to drop. As for the soil, there is nothing so suitable as a stout, friable, yellow loam, full of fibre from rotted turf. Clay, chalk, and sand are all unfit for the camellia, but a good peat soil answers very well, especially for making beds for planting out camellias, when a nice friable, fibrous loam is not obtainable.