New, endangered camellia species discovered in Wenshan

Camellia luteocalpandira is primarily featured by its bright-yellow flower.

Scientists from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), recently discovered a critically endangered plant species named camellia luteocalpandira (Theaceae) in Malipo county, southeast Yunnan’s Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture.

According to the institute, it is the very first time that Camellia sect. Calpandria has even been found in China. And this discovery was published on a core international academic journal by six Chinese botanists earlier this month. Yu Xiangqin, Liu Ende and Yang Shixiong were among them.

As Yang explains, China is a major place where camellia plants grow. About 80 to 90 percent of camellia species worldwide have already been found in China. However, Camellia sect. Calpandria only appeared in Malaysia and northern Thailand before.

The institute believes that further research of camellia luteocalpandira will shed new light on the systematic evolution of camellia and help better preserve this critically endangered species.

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The yellow flower of camellia luteocalpandira

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Flowering camellia luteocalpandria

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Flowering camellia luteocalpandria

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A camellia bud ready to bloom

Reporting by Pu Chao (Xinhua); trans-editing by Zhang Shuyu and Wang Jingzhong; photographs by Yang Shixiong