Tsubaki 椿

There are three indigenous camellias in Japan, Cammelia japonica, Camellia sasanqua and Camellia lutchuensis.
It is said that the origin of the Japanese word TSUBAKI (Camellia japonica) is TSUYABA (glossy leaf) and KI (tree).
Camellia japonica is indigenous to Japan and spread all over the world as gardening plants after the 19th century.

In Japan, it is said that samurai people did not like camellia flowers because they drop after blooming, like a war prisoner having his head cut off. However, the fact is different, samurai people loved camellias and bred many cultivars in the Edo Period (1603-1867).