Quarryhill Botanical Garden

Collected as 

Collected as wild origin seed by Bill McNamara on October 7, 1996 at 1,235 meters elevation from an evergreen shrub to 1.5 meters tall, spreading to 1 meter, in the open and solitary, on thin, shale- loam, in secondary regeneration following past cut over, Daoceng County, Guizhou province, China.  Coordinates: N 29 5 48,  E 107 22 39.

These evergreen shrubs or trees reach a height of 3-9 meters or more in the wild, with purplish-brown new branchlets graying with age.  Leaves are elliptic to oblong/oblanceolate, usually 6-10 cm x 2.5-3.5 cm in size, leathery and very glabrous, dark green adaxially and pale green abaxially with a serrulate margin.  Flowers appear December to March and are subterminal and solitary, 5-6 (rarely up to 10) cm in diameter with 5-6 petals in colors ranging from white to deep rose-red.  Brown, glabrous seeds follow between August and October, in fruits with 3 valves, globose or semiglobose in shape and 1-1.5 cm in diameter.

This camellia is endemic to south-central provinces of China, between 500 and 2,700 meters elevation in forests and thickets.  R. pitardii is less well-known in the nursery trade than its close cousin, R. reticulata, yet with its smaller leaves and blossoms the former has been of great use in the development of hybrids.

Camellia culture generally includes some protection from the sun, and regular water, particularly when young.