Introduction and Conservation of Autumn Camellias in HistoricalGardens of North-Western Italy
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2010
Abstract:
Camellia sasanqua has Japanese origin and is commonly known as autumn
camellia because of its autumn-winter flowering. Since ancient times, in Orient C.
sasanqua was appreciated as ornamental plant and represented in many paintings.
In Europe, the first information was published by Engelbert Kaempfer in 1712 in
Amoenitatum Exoticarum. In this book the author named the autumn camellia as
“Sasanqua of Japanese” and described the 25 main cultivars he saw in Japan. The
introduction of C. sasanqua plants in Europe dates back to the first half of the XIX
century. At that time this species was not very popular as ornamental because of the
simple shape and soft colour of the flowers and was often confused with C. oleifera
and C. maliflora. This study aimed to investigate the introduction and the assessment
of autumn camellias in Italy through a detailed bibliographic research. Few
information were found in ancient documents and catalogues kept in public and
private archives and a small number of old C. sasanqua cultivars were found in
historical gardens. To date, precious collections are located especially in gardens
around the Lake Maggiore (Piedmont – Italy). A catalogue field with fifty-six
camellia cultivars was then established in Verbania. This valuable botanical heritage
needs to be studied and preserved.
Tipologia CRIS:
03A-Articolo su Rivista
Keywords:
Camellia sasanqua; old cultivars; botanical heritage; Piedmont; germplams
Elenco autori:
Gullino P; Larcher F; Scariot V
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