camellia

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of several evergreen shrubs or small trees of the genus Camellia native to eastern Asia, especially C. japonica, having shiny leaves and showy roselike flowers that are usually red, white, or pink.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus containing about a dozen species of shrubs or small trees, belonging to the natural order Ternstrœmiaceœ, natives of tropical and eastern Asia and the Indian archipelago. They all have thick, shining, evergreen leaves and white or rose-colored flowers. The genus is divided into two sections, one with pendulous flowers and persistent sepals, represented by the tea plant, C. theifera (see tea), the other with erect flowers and deciduous sepals, of which the common cultivated camellia, C. Japonica, is a conspicuous example. Of this species, with beautiful but odorless flowers and elegant laurel-like leaves, several hundred varieties have been produced, as well as numerous hybrids with the larger-flowered C. reticulata of China and the fragrant-leafed C. Sasanqua of Japan. The dried leaves of the last species are said to be mixed with tea, and the seeds yield an oil which is used for various domestic purposes.
2. n. [lowercase] A flower of the genus Camellia, especially of C. Japonica.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any plant of the genus Camellia, shrubs and small trees native to Asia; Camellia japonica is the most popular as a garden plant; Camellia sinensis is the tea plant.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) An Asiatic genus of small shrubs, often with shining leaves and showy flowers. Camellia Japonica is much cultivated for ornament, and Camellia Sassanqua and Camellia oleifera are grown in China for the oil which is pressed from their seeds. The tea plant is now referred to this genus under the name of Camellia Thea.
2. n. (Hort.) An ornamental greenhouse shrub (Thea japonica) with glossy evergreen leaves and roselike red or white double flowers.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. any of several shrubs or small evergreen trees having solitary white or pink or reddish flowers