Stewartia pseudocamellia

A beauty that requires some patience! In its young years, the shrub is moderately winter hardy and grows into a multi-stemmed small tree. Stewartia is indeed related to the true Camellia, as can be seen from the white flower and the shape of the leaf. The differences are greater than the similarities; the false camellia is a deciduous shrub with beautiful autumn colors and blooms at a time when few other shrubs are flowering in June and July. The trunk is picturesque and peels beautifully like a plane tree. The shrub grows slowly and only reaches its maximum size of 10 meters after 25 years or more. Like the Camellia, Stewartia prefers neutral to slightly acidic, humus-rich soil that is well-drained. In their natural habitat (Japan), they grow in the shade of tall trees, but in our humid maritime climate, they tolerate full sun. The beautiful autumn coloring is better there than in the shade. The base of the trunk should be protected, for example, with evergreen plants, from afternoon sun in summer and morning sun in winter.
In (especially English) gardening books, Stewartia is sometimes written as Stuartia. That name refers to the British nobleman and botanist John Stuart, third Earl of Bute (1713-1792) and director of Kew Gardens. When the Swedish botanist Linnaeus introduced his new system for naming plants (and animals) in the eighteenth century, he made a mistake in naming the Stewartia. He had never seen the plant in real life and based his decision on an illustration by the German botanist Georg Ehret, on which the name Stewart erroneously appeared. The rules of scientific nomenclature prohibit subsequent corrections, so the name Stewartia given by Linnaeus must be considered the only correct one.

Denominations:
Latin: Stewartia pseudocamellia
Dutch: Schijncamellia
Also known as: Stuartia
English: Stewartia