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Camellia oleifera; photograph (c) 王天明, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) 王天明, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2025-12-26

Camellia oleifera C.Abel

Tea-oil-plant; Tea-oil Camellia

Theaceae · China South-Central, Hainan +5 · listed by its genus as a temperate garden plant

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Camellia oleifera C.Abel: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, Abel.

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Camellia oleifera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCamellia oleifera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCamellia oleifera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCamellia oleifera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCamellia oleifera, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCamellia oleifera, photograph author not stated, no rights reserved 22 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
0.4°C
Record low -4.8 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
30°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,219mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
16–36DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes March to August, read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Camellia oleifera, which originated in China, is notable as an important source of edible oil (known as tea oil or camellia oil) obtained from its seeds. It is commonly known as the oil-seed camellia or tea oil camellia, though to a lesser extent other species of camellia are used in oil production too.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Camellia oleifera", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Camellia

Camellia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species; almost all are found in southern China and Indochina. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Camellia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a temperate garden plant, listed under the genus Camellia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “shrub or tree”, “temperate”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,414 mm of 2,004 mm) falls in March to August, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 23.0 °C against a yearly mean of 19.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: September to February.

Rain

2,004 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,414 mm of it March to August. Wettest month June at 312 mm, driest month December at 54 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,573 mm to 3,570 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,219 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,004 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 36 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 13, the highest 90th-percentile month 38).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 0.4 °C, the absolute minimum -4.8 °C, 122 frost nights in 44 years, 2.8 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 32.8 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 4.4 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 1.2 °C to 12.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 30.2 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 0.4 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 61 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +99 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Camellia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “shrub or tree”, “temperate”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Camellia oleifera through the yearWarmest months July and August, mean daily high 30 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 4.4 °C; 2,004 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost32.8° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-4.8° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 16–36RH 61–66%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 62 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C13 / 8–1914 / 10–2018 / 14–2222 / 19–2526 / 24–2828 / 26–3030 / 28–3330 / 27–3327 / 25–3024 / 21–2720 / 16–2315 / 10–20
Night °C4 / 1–136 / 3–1410 / 6–1716 / 12–2019 / 16–2322 / 20–2524 / 22–2624 / 21–2521 / 18–2317 / 13–2111 / 8–186 / 3–14
Rain mm76 / 29–139134 / 59–185177 / 79–267208 / 132–323275 / 215–351312 / 238–498221 / 145–446221 / 151–468138 / 90–474101 / 64–33287 / 46–13354 / 32–101
DLI16 / 13–2217 / 14–2320 / 16–2825 / 22–3229 / 26–3330 / 27–3436 / 31–3833 / 31–3528 / 26–3024 / 22–2919 / 17–2417 / 14–21
RH %63 / 60–6765 / 62–6865 / 62–6965 / 63–6965 / 62–6966 / 63–7064 / 60–6965 / 61–7065 / 61–6862 / 58–6762 / 58–6761 / 57–66
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 62 grid cells holding the 81 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1278:5982 (26.075, 119.125). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -4.8 °C, 1st-percentile night 0.4 °C, 99th-percentile day 32.8 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 62 distinct grid cells holding 81 of the 81 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1278:5982 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 26.00_119.375, lapse-corrected +99 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 306 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Assam, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam · introduced: China North-Central · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker26.587, 114.101 · in the densest population, 412 records (65% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 636 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 81 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 286 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 42 km away. 14 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 555 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 636 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Camellia oleifera, photograph 1did not loadCamellia oleifera, photograph 2did not loadCamellia oleifera, photograph 3did not loadCamellia oleifera, photograph 4did not loadCamellia oleifera, photograph 5did not loadCamellia oleifera, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (6).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Melastoma dodecandrum Melastoma dodecandrum Melastomataceae Photo: CC0, author not statedArtemisia lactiflora Artemisia lactiflora White mugwort Photo: CC0, author not statedAbelia chinensis Abelia chinensis Chinese abelia Photo: CC BY, Jiro IguchiStyrax faberi Styrax faberi Styracaceae Photo: CC BY, Aaron ListonSloanea sinensis Sloanea sinensis Elaeocarpaceae Photo: CC BY, angryphycoPaulownia fortunei Paulownia fortunei Dragontree Photo: CC BY, Jaw-Jian La

Other Camellia 39 in the reference

Camellia amplexicaulis Camellia amplexicaulis Theaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Hungda Camellia amplexifolia Theaceae Camellia azalea Camellia azalea Theaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedCamellia brevistyla Camellia brevistyla Theaceae Photo: CC BY, Francisca WuCamellia caudata Camellia caudata Theaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedCamellia chekiangoleosa Camellia chekiangoleosa Theaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, ZhangzhugangCamellia chrysanthoides Camellia chrysanthoides Theaceae Photo: CC0, DaderotCamellia crapnelliana Camellia crapnelliana Crapnell's Camellia Photo: CC BY, Kalvin ChanCamellia cuspidata Camellia cuspidata Theaceae Photo: CC BY, User:BotBln Camellia drupifera Theaceae Camellia euphlebia Camellia euphlebia Theaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, 阿橋 HQCamellia euryoides Camellia euryoides Theaceae Photo: CC BY, 曾昱承 Yu-Cheng Zeng all 40 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Camellia banksiana; Camellia biflora; Camellia drupifera f. biflora; Camellia obscura; Camellia oleifera var. monosperma and 11 more. (GBIF Backbone)

Under another author Camellia caudata Griff. is an older name of this species, not Camellia caudata, a species of the reference; Camellia sasanqua Blanco is an older name of this species, not Camellia sasanqua, a species of the reference. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Theaceae
Described by
C.Abel
Native to
China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast +4
Wild records
636 in range · 286 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21GBIF's key 8307542 is Camellia oleifera Abel.; the page links Kew's Camellia oleifera C.Abel, and the name is cited as Kew cites it
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 21 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (18 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 3 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 26.00_119.375, lapse-corrected +99 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21found by its label; its IPNI identifier 828535-1 is Kew's for Camellia oleifera C.Abel
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-21
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-21
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-21
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 37 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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