Any plant of the genus Camellia, shrubs and small trees native to Asia; Camellia japonica is the most popular as a garden plant; Camellia sinensis is the tea plant
A camellia is a large bush that has shiny leaves and large white, pink, or red flowers similar to a rose. a plant with dark green leaves and red, pink, or white flowers, or the flowers of this plant (Georg Josef Kamel (in , Camellus) (1661-1706), priest and plant scientist). Any of the East Asian evergreen shrubs and trees that make up the genus Camellia in the tea family (Theaceae), most notable for three ornamental flowering species and for C. sinensis (sometimes called Thea sinensis), the source of tea. The common camellia (C. japonica) is the best-known, particularly for its double (many-petaled) cultivated varieties. The tea plant (C. sinensis), reaching 30 ft (9 m) in the wild but in cultivation kept to a low, mounded shrub, bears fragrant white, yellow-centred flowers