Contessa Lavina Maggi
One of the world's most famous camellias — an 1858 Italian tricolor formal double with pure white ground and definite dashes of dark carmine, RHS AGM 1993.
One of the most famous and widely grown camellias in the world, first described by van Houtte in 1858 as 'imbricated, tricolor, very large flower' and illustrated in his 1860 Flore des Serres as 'a large, magnificently imbricated flower, having round, fat buds, numerous petals, pure white ground with definite dashes of dark carmine.' The striking contrast between the pristine white ground and bold carmine markings has made it a fixture in collections worldwide for over 160 years. Known under innumerable orthographic variants. Received the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 1993. Listed locally as 'Contessa Lavina Maggi' and registered as 'Lavinia Maggi.' Source: International Camellia Register.