Mountain Camellia (Mountain Stewartia)

Size, growth and what to expect

Mountain camellia opens its flowers in July, when few other trees are in bloom. Each is 2½ to 3 inches across with five ruffled white petals around purple stamens and orange anthers, and the seed follows in a woody five-part capsule. It is slow, about a foot a year on an average site in our growth estimator's model. It makes a small understory tree or large shrub of 10 to 15 feet, about as wide as it is tall, with a rounded to oval habit.

The name comes from the likeness of those flowers to a camellia's. The leaves turn orange and red in fall, and birds and small mammals spread the seed. The capsules ripen in August and September.

It grows wild in the southern Appalachians and Piedmont from Virginia to Alabama, on wooded stream banks, at the bases of bluffs, and in shaded ravines and openings in rhododendron thickets. It is sensitive to drought, heat and compacted soil.

How to grow Mountain Camellia

Mountain camellia wants part shade, cast by tall trees or a wall that blocks the afternoon. It grows in soil of average moisture that neither dries hard nor stays soggy. Allow 15 feet from a building and keep it clear of a big maple's roots.

Plant in the dormant season. We ship it potted, because the fine roots do not take bare-root handling, and the less you break up the ball the better. Dig twice the ball's width and no deeper, set the top of the ball level with grade, and backfill with the soil you took out. Mulch over the roots, off the trunk, and stake only on a windy site. Seed needs a warm spell and then a cold one. Sow it fresh in fall in a protected outdoor bed under fine wire screen, and expect most seedlings the second spring. Indoors, keep it damp at room temperature for three to five months and then in the refrigerator for three months before sowing.

Water through the first three summers whenever a week goes dry, since this tree does not bounce back from wilting. Keep the mulch topped up and fence against deer rub while the trunk is thin. Prune nothing but broken wood.

Mountain camellia carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees carry the pollen. Most stewartias set seed with their own pollen, and even a lone tree can bear viable seed. Mountain stewartia is slow and resents being moved, so pick the spot as permanent. Flowers open a few at a time through July rather than all at once.