delirium florens
Camellia japonica 'Kyo Nishiki'
The name Camellia Kyo Nishiki (京錦) translates to 'Kyo Brocade'. The 'Kyo' in the name is short for the name of Japan's old capital, Kyoto, and just means 'capital' as does the kyo in Tōkyo. There are at least two other cultivars, 'Yamoto Nishiki' and 'Taiyo Nishiki', that combine a placename and the word nishiki in the cultivar name.
When looking into the history of this cultivar, a lot of things are uncertain and sources are difficult to find. For example, I have found the claim that Kyo Nishiki must have been bred before 1867 but no reason for that assumption.
What we do know is that Camilla Kyo Nichiki is part of a distinctive type of C. japonica cultivar known as Higo. Higo refers to an old province in Japan (fully known as 肥後国, Higo no kuni), where this type of cultivar was first produced. Higo Province lay on the southern most of the four main islands of Japan, Kyūshū, in today's Kumamoto Prefecture.
The Higo style of camellia cultivar is known for single flowers with a splayed-out flare of stamens in the center. These camellias were prised by members of the Samurai class. In that culture, they were and still are connected to tea gardens and to the tea ceremony, and are used to produce bonsai. There seems again to be some doubt around the Higo's background. I found them described as a hybrid produced from C. japonica and C.rusticana or, via an earlier hybrid (Camellia × vernalis), from C. japonica and C. sasanqua.
Camillia Kyo Nishiki is normally described as having lighter pink stripes with darker accents and as having the typical Higo-style center. Neither of these are present in the flowers of the plant this picture comes from. However, given there was a name tag attached to the plant and that I found it in a botanical garden, I will assume that it is indeed what the tag claims it to be.
As an amusing aside: When searching for Kyo Nishiki, the fifth result that came up for me was my own picture of the same plant, taken a couple of years ago. flic.kr/p/2p6YTp1
Camellia japonica 'Kyo Nishiki'
The name Camellia Kyo Nishiki (京錦) translates to 'Kyo Brocade'. The 'Kyo' in the name is short for the name of Japan's old capital, Kyoto, and just means 'capital' as does the kyo in Tōkyo. There are at least two other cultivars, 'Yamoto Nishiki' and 'Taiyo Nishiki', that combine a placename and the word nishiki in the cultivar name.
When looking into the history of this cultivar, a lot of things are uncertain and sources are difficult to find. For example, I have found the claim that Kyo Nishiki must have been bred before 1867 but no reason for that assumption.
What we do know is that Camilla Kyo Nichiki is part of a distinctive type of C. japonica cultivar known as Higo. Higo refers to an old province in Japan (fully known as 肥後国, Higo no kuni), where this type of cultivar was first produced. Higo Province lay on the southern most of the four main islands of Japan, Kyūshū, in today's Kumamoto Prefecture.
The Higo style of camellia cultivar is known for single flowers with a splayed-out flare of stamens in the center. These camellias were prised by members of the Samurai class. In that culture, they were and still are connected to tea gardens and to the tea ceremony, and are used to produce bonsai. There seems again to be some doubt around the Higo's background. I found them described as a hybrid produced from C. japonica and C.rusticana or, via an earlier hybrid (Camellia × vernalis), from C. japonica and C. sasanqua.
Camillia Kyo Nishiki is normally described as having lighter pink stripes with darker accents and as having the typical Higo-style center. Neither of these are present in the flowers of the plant this picture comes from. However, given there was a name tag attached to the plant and that I found it in a botanical garden, I will assume that it is indeed what the tag claims it to be.
As an amusing aside: When searching for Kyo Nishiki, the fifth result that came up for me was my own picture of the same plant, taken a couple of years ago. flic.kr/p/2p6YTp1