Camellia japonica cultivar. Drawn in Tom and Marie Onomiya’s garden in Ukiah, California, on 1 March 1978. The genus Camellia contains about 80 species (including tea) and is native to Asia. I have seen very old camellias on plantations in the Carolinas and in old gardens in Japan. The camellia does well in mild climates, and it becomes a veritable tree in time. Linnaeus named the genus for George Joseph Kamel (in Latin, he was called “Camellus”), a Jesuit missionary in the Far East, who collected specimens of minerals, animals, and plants in the 17th century. In California, this Camellia blooms in midwinter and early spring, bringing bright splashes of color when they’re most wanted. —Henry Evans
236 copies were printed and sell for $600 each.