2.
Stewartia ovata
(Cavanilles) Weatherby, Rhodora. 41: 198. 1939.
Mountain camellia or stewartia
Malachodendron ovatum
Cavanilles, Diss. 5: 302, plate 158, fig. 2. 1787;
M. pentagynum
(L'Héritier) Dumont de Courset
Shrubs or trees
, crown rounded.
Stems
smooth; young twigs reddish brown, bark longitudinally fissured.
Winter bud scales
1, enclosed by petiole wings, compressed, 2-5 mm, silvery-pubescent.
Leaves:
petiole 2-15 mm, wing 1-2 mm wide; blade ovate to widely elliptic, (3-)8-12(-15) × (2-)4-7(-8.5) cm, base broadly cuneate to rounded, margins serrulate to erose, ciliate, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface sparsely pubescent, primary veins in 5-7 pairs.
Inflorescence bracts
1, 10-15 mm.
Pedicels
0.3-0.4(-0.7) cm × 1 mm.
Flowers
(5-)6-10 cm diam.; sepals lanceolate, (11-)14-18 × 6-9 mm; petals 5(-8), creamy white, margins erose, abaxial surface pubescent; stamens 100-125(-150); filaments white, yellow, rose, or purple, free portion 12-18(-20) mm; anthers yellow; styles 5; stigmas unlobed.
Capsules
ovoid, 1.5-2.2 × 1.4-1.6 cm, apex acute, pubescent.
Seeds
reddish brown, winged, planoconvex, (7-)8-10 × 5-7 mm, dull, wing 0.1-1 mm wide.
2
n
= 30.
Flowering (May-)Jun-Jul(-Oct). Shaded, moist ravines and gorges; (100-)200-1100 m; Ala., Ga., Ky., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Va.
Stewartia ovata
is likely not naturally occurring in Florida; the only specimen seen is from cultivation in an Alachua County nursery (
Wilmot s.n.
, 21 May 1945, FLAS). Human threats to the species include land-use conversion and habitat fragmentation. A form with purplish filaments [var.
grandiflora
(Bean) Weatherby] is generally not recognized and is hypothesized to be the result of either genetic instability (C. E. Wood Jr. 1959b) or introgression with
S. malacodendron
.
Stewartia ovata
is cultivated as an ornamental for its showy flowers and red fall foliage.
