Camellia

#### Camellia. Among the many known species of **Camellia **only a few are sufficiently fragrant as to obtain any interest in perfumery. One of these is **Camellia**** ****Sasanqua**** **which grows in China and Japan. It is mainly cultivated for its fragrant flowers as a decorative garden shrub. Extraction of the flowers with volatile solvents has been undertaken in China during the 1950's. The extraction products are not commercially available although samples have reached some parts of the outside world. The author has no personal experience with the use of **Camellia**** **flower extracts. A fatty ("fixed") oil is produced from the seeds of the above camellia species and from the related **Camellia**** ****Drupifera**. This oil has a faint odor, but it is not an essential oil and it has no application in perfumery. The leaves of the two species of camelia are occasionally used to be mixed with tea on account of their pleasant fragrance. The **Camellia**** **shrub belongs to the same family as **Thea Sinensis**, the tea shrub (also known as **Camellia Sinensis**).