黄花茶 Camellia flava (Pit.) SealyCamellia flava

Camellia flava, Subgenus Thea, Sect. Chrysantha, Ser. Flavae Chang, Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 1979(3): 70. 1979.  Chang Hung-ta and Bruce Bartholomew (1984). Camellias, p.128: Camellia flava (Pitard) Sealy, Kew Bul1. 1949(2):217. 1949. [Description] Branchlets glabrous. Leaves ovate-oblong to 15 cm long, bases rounded or slightly cordate, back pubescent. Flowers pedicellate, golden-yellow; bracts 6-7; sepals 5-6, 8-15 mm long; petals 10-13, 1.5-1. 8 cm long; filaments slightly connate; ovaries 5-locular, with yellow pubescence; styles 5-parted, free, 7-15 mm long. [Distribution] northern Vietnam. [Synonym] Thea flava Pitard in Lecomte, Fl. Gen. Indo-Chine 1: 346. 1910. Camellia cucphuongensis Ninh & Rosmann. Camellia cordatula Merr.

Camellia flava (Pit.) Sealy (1949: 217) ≡ Thea flava Pitard (1910: 346) Type (lectotype designated by Sealy 1958: 40):—VIETNAM. Tonkin: Vó Xà, in monte Chùa Hạc, 23 December 1884, Bon 2831 (P04511548!, the image of the lectotype is available at https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/p/item/p04511548). Type (lectotype designated by Sealy 1958: 40):—VIETNAM. Tonkin: Vó Xà, in monte Chùa Hạc, 23 December 1884, Bon 2831 (P04511548!, the image of the lectotype is available at https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/p/item/p04511548). 

= Camellia cucphuongensis Ninh & Rosmann in Ninh (1998: 71), syn. nov. Type:—VIETNAM. Ninh Binh: Cuc Phuong National Park, 11 January 1995, Anh PA 95109 (holotype HNU!)

Nomenclatural notes:—Ninh & Thu (1995) described C. cucphuongensis without providing or citing a Latin description or diagnosis, so the species was not validly published there (Art. 39.1 of the ICN). Rosmann (1997: 77) stated that “... a camellia discovered in 1994... [which] I have called it C. cucphuongensis Rosmann and Ninh...”. He briefly described the flower and fruit of the plant but did not supply or cite a Latin description or diagnosis, so the name was not validly published by Rosmann (1997) as well (Art. 39.1 of the ICN). Camellia cucphuongensis was, however, later validly published in Ninh (1998).

Camellia flava is one of the beloved golden/yellow camellias. Thea flava and T. tonkinensis Pitard (1910: 343) were suggested to be the earliest yellow camellias ever reported (Savige 1994, yang et al. 2014). However, before they were published, Lanessan (1886: 296) and Pierre (1887: t. 118) described T. dormoyana (its authorship is dependent on a binding decision to be made, see Zhao et al. 2016), a shrub native to Vietnam and bearing a large flower (3–7 cm in diam.) with yellow petals.

Morphological notes:—It was suggested that C. cucphuongensis bore a flower with 13–15 petals and a fruit with 6–8 seeds per loculus whereas C. flava had 10–13 petals per flower and a single seed per loculus in the capsule (Ninh 1998: 72, Hakoda & Ninh 2001: 191). Orel (2007: 7) considered that C. cucphuongensis was “morphologically, but not genetically, similar to C. flava” but did not provide any genetic data. Parks (2007: 15) reported that his planted C. cucphuongensis had “a few more petals and a slightly deeper yellow color than C. flava” but he did not think that these characters could be used to differentiate species and suggested that both species “appear[ed] identical in all major morphological characteristics”.

The number of seeds per loculus in the fruit usually varies depending on nutrition and may not be merited as a diagnostic character at specific level in sect. Archecamellia Sealy (1958: 36) of Camellia. A gathering of C. flava, HAl 9025 (HN, P05247465 and P05247467), has several fruits and it shows that a single loculus in the fruit can bear

1–4 seeds. A capsule of C. flava usually has five loculi and may bear 10–12 seeds in total. Meanwhile, the number of petals in a flower of a Camellia species is rarely adopted as a specifically diagnostic character because it varies within the same species (Sealy 1958, Ming 2000). Therefore, C. cucphuongensis is treated as a heterotypic synonym of C. flava.

Camellia flava is native to the North Vietnam. Very few collections, except the type, were cited in the previous monographs of Camellia, especially those conserved in the Vietnamese herbaria (Sealy 1958, Ming 2000). More specimens examined in this research are listed below.

Other examined specimens:—VIETNAM. Hoa Binh: entre Hoa Binh et Vu Bin, 27 December 1940, Pételot 2303 (HNU, VNM00003789); Kim Boi, Thuong Tien, 24 December 1999, Phuong 2542 (HN); Lac Son, Ngoc Son, Khu, 20°27’42’’N, 105°18’34’’E, 611m, 28 July 2006, HAl 9025 (HN, P05247464, P05247465, P05247467, PE 2341344); Luong Son, Ha Son Binh, 5 March 1984, Binh B.907 (HNU); Mai Chau, Van Mai, 21 December 1999, Phuong 2461 (HN). Ninh Binh: Nho Quan, Cuc Phuong, 13 January 1963, Sino-Vietnam exp. 2159 (HN), 16 February 1965, Sino-Vietnam exp. 2317 (HN, IBK00118472, IBK00118568, IBK00118569, IBK00118570, IBSC 0238703, KUN 0694266, PE 01679136, VFM), December 1992, Ninh NT 92131 (HNU), 200–400 m, 1995, Ninh PA 95104, PA 95106, PA 95108, PA 95112, PA 95115 and PA 95116 (HNU), 100 m, October 1995, Rosmann 95680 (P05247458), 300 m, 3 April 1997, Werff et al. 14244 (HN), 20°19’48’’N, 105°36’55’’E, 270 m, 30 November 1998, Soejarto et al. 10527 (P00226766), 10 March 2007, Nguyen et al. HNK-1312 (HN, K, PE 02022257), 20 October 2010, Phe BC-TV 827 (VNF). Thanh Hoa: Quan Son, Na Meo, Ban Son, 20°17’28’’N, 104°40’43’’E, 300 m, 24 August 2007, HAl 11204 (HNU No. 019012).

黄花茶Camellia flava (Pitard) Sealy in Kew Bull. 1949, 217； Chang in Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni, 1979, no. 3.70, 张宏达，1981. 《山茶属植物的系统研究》第102页。【标本】，分布于越南北部。【形态特征】嫩枝无毛，叶卵状长圆形，长达15厘米，基部圆形或微心形，背面有毛；花有柄，金黄色，苞片6-7片，萼片5-6片，长8-15毫米；花辮10-13片，长1.5-1.8厘米，花丝稍连合；子房5室，有黄毛，花柱5条，离生，长7-15毫米。

高继银、帕克斯、杜跃强，2005. 《山茶属植物主要原种彩色图集》浙江科学技术出版社，第98页。花黄色，花径3.0~5.0厘米，顶生或腋生。花柄长6~10毫米。苞片6~7枚，外略被短柔毛，萼片5~6枚，略宿存，边缘具睫毛。花瓣10~13枚，长1.5~2.8厘米，宽1.3~1.6厘米，倒卵形，两面被灰色短毛。雄蕊被短柔毛，长1.5~2.0厘米，外轮花丝基部连生9毫米。雌蕊被柔毛，长0.7~2.0厘米，花柱5条，基部离生，子房密被绒毛。花期冬季至早春。萌果球形，直径1.5~3.0厘米，5室，果皮厚1~2毫米。叶长圆状椭圆形，先端尾状渐尖，基部圆形，长10.0~15.0厘米，宽3.5~5.0厘米，边缘具波状细齿，薄革质，叶面中脉凸起， 侧脉凹陷，叶背中脉与侧脉凸起，具腺点。叶柄长3~5毫米，略被柔毛。灌木或小乔木，高可达5米，嫩枝紫褐色，顶芽被毛，枝条细密。分布：越南北部（生长在石灰岩山地上的常绿林下），海拔 260-600米。中国浙江省金华市金华国际山茶物种园有栽培。

黄花茶Camellia flava (Pitard) Sealy南宁市金花茶公园，2021.《国内外金花茶物种图鉴》，广西科学技术出版社，第104-105页。【形态特征】多年生常绿灌木，树冠、枝条整体自然下垂。树皮灰色。嫩枝圆柱形，浅绿色，被灰白色短茸毛：老技黄棕色。膨大叶芽近锥形或纺锤形，绿色。叶互生。嫩叶浅绿色。老叶革质，长椭圆形或卵状长圆形，长11.9-19.7cm，宽4.8-8.4cm，叶缘有稀疏锯齿，先端尾状渐尖，基部浅心形，正面深绿色，背面浅绿色；侧脉7-8对；主脉和侧脉在叶两面均很明显，在叶面凹陷，在叶背凸起，叶背主脉上有稀疏灰白色短茸毛，网脉不明显；叶柄长0.3-0.7cm。花蕾紫红色。花淡黄色，无蜡质光泽，单生或2-3朵簇生枝顶或叶腋，钟状，直径3.8-4.5cm，单花鲜重4.5-5.8g；花梗较长，约1.0cm；苞片4-6枚，指甲状或卵形，浅绿色，两面和边缘均被灰白色短茸毛；萼片6枚，近圆形或宽卵形，淡黄绿色，有紫红色斑块，两面和边缘均被灰白色短茸毛；花瓣15-16枚，最外轮花瓣近圆形，有紫红色斑块，内轮花瓣卵形或长椭圆形，花瓣两面均被灰白色短茸毛；雄蕊多数，花丝长1.8-2.9cm，外轮基部与花瓣合生，内轮离生；花柱4-5条，长约2cm，完全离生，基部被灰白色短茸毛；子房上位，扁球形，有棱，直径约3.2mm，密被灰白色短茸毛，4-5室。花期12月至翌年2月。【原产地】该种是越南的一个特有种，分布于越南和平省、宁平省。【识别要点】该种树冠、枝条整体自然下垂；叶基部浅心形；萼片及最外轮花瓣有紫红色斑块；嫩枝、苞片、萼片、花瓣和花柱基部均被灰白色短茸毛。