VARIEGATION STUDIES OF CAMELLIA , JAPONICA
Sacramento, Ca is known as the "Camellia Capital". Its Capital Gardens are home to a heritage camellia grove containing some of the oldest cultivars bought to the city in the 1850's. The gardens are an excellent place to study the history of camellia breeding and rare old time varieties. The Sacramento Camellia Society also has one of the largest and oldest camellia shows in the country each year, where new cultivars and results of modern breeding can be seen. I am particularly interested in the aspect of variegation breeding, in terms of what causes a plant to create color and pattern changes, and the molecular processes that control variegation on a DNA level. (See linked page on Discussion of Petal Variegation, Its Relevance as an Artistic & Evolutionary Indicator)
The history of drying and preserving plant specimens for cataloging and identifying purposes goes back to the Victorian Era. DNA can potentially be extracted and studied from these collections. There is also a traditional Japanese art form of arranging dried petal specimens known as "Oshibana". What follows is my own "Voucher herbarium specimen" collection of variegated cultivars found in the historic Capital City grove.
(scroll down, play slideshow)
The history of drying and preserving plant specimens for cataloging and identifying purposes goes back to the Victorian Era. DNA can potentially be extracted and studied from these collections. There is also a traditional Japanese art form of arranging dried petal specimens known as "Oshibana". What follows is my own "Voucher herbarium specimen" collection of variegated cultivars found in the historic Capital City grove.
(scroll down, play slideshow)
