Botanist Develops Dwarf Camellia Varieties In Kunming

Researcher Huang Wenzhong has collected over 200 domestic and international camellia varieties and 300,000 seedlings in Yunnan. The goal is to allow residents to create gardens on balconies or windowsills for 200 to 300 yuan. The project aims to integrate foreign camellia traits, such as disease resistance, to improve local Yunnan varieties. Yunnan has a camellia history exceeding 1,500 years, with over 100 varieties currently existing in the region. Researchers in Kunming have named a new camellia variety 'Youtang Chunxiu' to honor the late Liu Youtang. Wang Zhonglang, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany, stated the variety serves as a memorial to Liu's contributions to camellia research. The variety was selected because it is among the earliest to bloom, symbolizing the origins of the botanical garden's collection. Wang was a camellia expert at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The naming serves to commemorate Wang's contributions to the field in Kunming. The Kunming Botanical Garden has a history of camellia cultivation in Yunnan spanning over 1,500 years. Huang Wenzhong, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, has spent over 30 years collecting and domesticating more than 200 varieties of camellia plants. One specific variety, named 'You Tang Chun Xiu', was created to honor the late Liu Youtang, a pioneer of the Kunming Botanical Garden.