Bella Gioia

Tagliabue, 1840, Nomenclatore Cameliae. No description. van Houtte Catalogue, 1842, 9:8 as ‘Bella Gioja’: Type simiar to Press’s Eclipse, but more beautiful. (Italian). Trillon, Catalogue, 1843, p.3, as ‘Bella Gioia’: Large pink flower. Oudin, Lisieux, Nursery Catalogue, 1844, p.9 as ‘Belle Gioji’: Many Camellia ‘Calderari’ are sold under this name, however they do not resemble each other. The true ‘Belle Gioji’ offers the lively variegation of Tricolor on a very full, double flower, similar to Napoleon. Berlèse, 1849, Annales de la Société Central d’Horticulture de France, vol.40, p.225: Flowers peony form, sometimes regular rose form, basically white, striped and dotted with rose. Exterior petals, large, two rows, sometimes 4 or 5, well imbricated with spots of rose similar to Tricolor. Origi­nated in Italy. Orthographic variants: ‘Bella Gioja’, ‘Belle Gioja’.