The camellia flowers in the park have fallen, and it seems that flowers have bloomed on the ground. Winter is finally coming to an end. Camellias are a familiar plant to Japanese people, as they have been featured in nine poems in the Man’yoshu (an ancient collection of Japanese poetry). As the scientific name Camellia japonica suggests, camellias are a flower tree native to Japan, with two types found in Japan: Yabutsubaki and Yukitsubaki. Camellias were first cultivated for ornamental purposes in Japan during the mid-Muromachi period, but it was during the Edo period that they were officially developed through breeding. When they were introduced to Europe in the 1800s, they quickly spread around the world. Nowadays, hybrid breeding of camellias has also been carried out in Europe, America, Australia, and New Zealand, and over 2,000 types of camellias, collectively known as “Camellia,” are loved by people around the world.

公園の椿がたくさんの花を落とし、大地に花が咲いた様です。いよいよ冬仕舞いといったところです。椿は万葉集にも９首もの歌が詠まれているほど、日本人にとって古くから馴染みのある植物です。Camellia japonicaという学名が示すように椿は日本原産の花木で、日本に分布する椿には、ヤブツバキとユキツバキがあります。椿が日本で観賞用に栽培されるようになったのは室町時代中期頃といわれていますが、本格的に育種される様になったのは江戸時代からです。1800年代にヨーロッパに紹介されると、短期間で世界中に普及しました。現在では、欧米やオーストラリア、ニュージーランドなどでも交雑育種が進み、2000種を超える椿が「カメリア」と呼ばれて愛されています。