Camellia petelotii

Camellia petelotii is a species of plant in the family Theaceae. It is found in China (endemic in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China) and Vietnam. It may be called the golden camellia and synonyms include C. chrysantha and Camellia nitidissima. The golden camellia originated 170 million years ago, it is a first-class nationally protected plant in China. The golden camellia is extremely demanding on the growth environment, and its genes are extremely difficult to replicate, once transplanted, it will die or genetically mutate. Therefore, in 1986, the Golden Camellia National Nature Reserve was built in Fangcheng, Guangxi, with a total area of 9195.1 hectares.

It is threatened by habitat loss. It originates from southern China and Vietnam where it has been used to make tea; it has also been propagated as a garden plant for its waxy yellow flowers, which are unusual in a camellia. It is endangered in the wild, but favored as a garden plant.

Description
Camellia petelotii is a shrub or small tree growing up to 5 meters in height.

Uses
With Golden Camellias, Chinese experts have been conducting experiments to create new varieties of the flower. Experts have found a few and named them, "Nayue Hongyan", "Liaoyan Beauty", "Xinhuang" and other names, which have contributed to the new tea market. According to the research and experiments of The Institute of Medicinal Plant Development (China)-Guangxi Branch and some other Chinese medicine research institutions in Guangxi, Golden camellia tea has the functions of preventing cancer, inhibiting tumor growth, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood lipids, lowering cholesterol, preventing atherosclerosis, delaying aging and other health effects as improve the body's immune.