Lady Vansitart
An 1887 Victorian-era japonica renowned for its holly-like foliage and white-striped-rose-pink semi-double blooms — an RHS-recognized classic that defined an era of camellia taste.
First described in The Garden in 1887 as 'large, semi-double, white, striped rose pink, with holly-like foliage,' this Victorian-era japonica became one of the defining cultivars of its period. Puddle and Hanger's detailed 1960 RHS description records the flowers as predominantly white with Carmine Rose 621 streaks and blotches, six to nine centimeters across, with eighteen to nineteen petals in three rows. The distinctive holly-like foliage — dark green, glossy, narrowly elliptic with finely and sharply serrate margins — is as notable as the flowers themselves. Compact, slender growth. Listed locally as 'Lady Vansitart' and registered as 'Lady Vansittart.' Source: International Camellia Register.