The Higo Camellia

Adapted from a lecture given to the Spanish Camellia Society
in Pontevedra, Spain, March 2007

Shigeo Matsumoto
(shigeo "at" mms.bbiq.jp)

A Typical Higo Camellia
Let me show you an example of Higo camellia variety. This variety is named ‘Yamato-nishiki’, which means "Brocade of Japan". It is one of the traditional Higo camellias inherited and treasured among Higo camellia enthusiasts. The most distinguishable feature of Higo camellias is the stamen system. A number of stamens are flaring at the center, free from the base, like a sunburst.

Map of Japan
The Japanese archipelago is composed of four major islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. In the mid-western part of Kyushu, there is a district called Kumamoto Prefecture, which was called "Higo Province" during the feudalistic age before 1867. Higo camellias have been grown exclusively in the Higo Province mainly by samurai and their descendants, and so those camellias have been prefixed ‘Higo’.
The city of Kurume is about 100 km north of Kumamoto. In 2010 the International Camellia Congress is to be held in Kurume. We are planning to make a tour to Kumamoto during this Congress to see the Higo bonsai show to be held by the Higo Camellia Society.

Unique Features of Higo Camellias
Higo camellias have some particular features:
First, they are of single flower form with 5 to 9 petals.

    Second, their flowers are flat, saucer-shaped.
    Third, the flowers have a special stamens system. This is the most distinguishable feature from other types of camellias. The center of the flower is filled with a cluster of stamens, resembling that of Prunus mume, Japanese apricot or "ume" in Japanese. We call it "Ume-jin". The stamen system of a Higo camellia looks just like those of Prunus mume, as this photo shows. The bloom has a number of stamens, 100 to 300, according to the variety, flaring out from the center like a sunburst. The more stamens they have, the more they are valued.
    Fourth, although there is a full range of camellia colors from white to red including several brocades with stripes and spots, pureness of colors is always demanded.
    Finally, and most importantly, Higo camellias must be registered under the strict criteria of the Higo Camellia Society.

Ume-jin and Wa-jin
There are two types of stamen systems for Higo camellias. Ume-jin is an ideal form of stamens coming out of the flower center almost free from the base. Differing slightly, Wa-jin stamens are united to some length from the base, form one ring or two making an open space inside. It is considered that Wa-jin is an intermediate situation to be changing to Ume-jin from the original tubular stamen system. Ume-jin is more valued than Wa-jin.

Origin of Higo Camellias
Morphologically, Higo camellias seem to have some influence from C.rusticana, the wild form of which has a stamen cluster like Ume-jin. Therefore, at first it was believed that Higo camellias could have a close relationship with C.rusticana. But it was found later that the molecular structures of their leaves are different from those of C.rusticana, rather similar to those of C.japonica, showing that they could be mutations of C.japonica. The correlations of Higo camellias to C.rusticana and C.japonica will be cleared by DNA analysis sooner or later.

History of Higo Camellias
Let me talk a little about the history of Higo camellias. The very beginning of cultivating Higos is no doubt closely related to the samurai of Higo Province.

Higos Introduced by Higo Samurai
In the 16^th century after the long period of widespread turbulence, the history of Japan was unified under Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, two powerful samurai controllers. What was called the Momoyama Culture bloomed, and the tea ceremony developed into a customary practice among samurai and the upper classes. Growing camellias in the gardens of samurai families and monasteries became fashionable, and the "Kyo-tsubaki" group of camellias was established in Kyoto.

In the beginning of the 17^th century, the Edo Period (1603~1867) was started by the first Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who laid the foundation of the Tokugawa regime which lasted for about 260 years in Edo, now Tokyo. The Tokugawa regime imposed upon all local feudal daimyos (lords) a system called "sankin kotai", of alternate residences. According to that rule, every daimyo had to live in Edo every other year and the rest in his local domination, leaving his wife and his first son in Edo.

Everything was concentrated in Edo, so that the gorgeous Edo culture flourished. Some shoguns were enthusiastic in growing camellias, and they collected many rare camellias from all over Japan.

It is speculated that on the occasions of making sankin kotai tours to Edo, Higo samurai brought home the original Higo-type camellias from Edo and Kyoto. The simplicity, the sturdiness and the magnificence of the Higo-type camellia flowers just matched the sentiment of Higo samurai, and they kept growing and improving those camellias exclusively among them for generations. There is a Japanese phrase, mongai fushutsu, meaning something like "to be treasured only within the gate", and in fact, Higo camellias were kept mongai fushutsu until the end of World War II.

There is also a phrase, Higo mokkosu, which represents the temperament of Higo people. If mokkosu is to be simply interpreted, it means ‘eccentric’ or ‘stubborn’, which sounds negative, but it is also used in a positive meaning to praise a person for having steady will. Anyway, Higo camellias have been handed down and enthusiastically improved by such mokkosu samurai and mokkosu people of Higo Province.

First Record of Higo Camellias
The first document dealing with Higo camellias is Uekiya Bunsuke Hikki (Notes of Nurseryman Bunsuke), written in 1830 in Edo, in which 29 Higo varieties were included. Some nine varieties out of the 29, such as ‘Yamato-nishiki’, ‘Kobai’, ‘Gosho-zakura’, ‘Osaraku’, and ‘Ota-haku’ are still included in the registered list of Higos of the present. The cultivation of Higos must have started several decades earlier than their appearance in the document, so that their history may be traced back more than 200 years to the middle-to-end of the 18^th century.

Foundation of the Higo Camellia Society
In 1867 the Meiji Restoration took place and the Tokugawa regime came to an end. The samurai were disarmed and the camellia enthusiasm among them inevitably declined. Some Higos remained in the gardens of their residences, unattended and unappreciated. However, there were some Japanese who carried on the tradition of cherishing camellias despite the turning away from old customs.

A disastrous tragedy occurred to Higos once again during World War II: Kumamoto City was destroyed in air raids, which reduced the remaining Higo trees to ashes.

However, the resuscitation of Higos took place when the Higo Camellia Society was established in 1958 with 38 founding members. They have carried on many activities such as collecting remaining varieties, unifying variety names, searching for mother trees, selecting excellent varieties, improving the quality of varieties, holding camellia shows, and so on. The number of Higo varieties was increased to 72 in 1966, and is now 120.

The Higo Camellia Society has a strict registration system for newly created flowers. The process is controlled by a five-member registration committee. There are two basic rules. First, prior to the approval of an application, the candidate variety is observed by the committee for five years to see the stability of flower patterns. Second, the applicant must prepare more than 100 plants of the variety, so that the variety is available in the market.

Introducing New Higo Flowers
Now, let me introduce some relatively new varieties produced by Mr. Tomoya Nishimura, an influential member of the Higo Camellia Society. Most Higo varieties are produced as mutations of traditional ones. There are a few persons who have made varieties by hybridization. Mr. Nishimura is an extraordinary person who is very enthusiastic in making new Higos by breeding, in spite of his great age of 88.

Photo: Tomoya Nishimura (left) with fellow hybridizer Mikio Akashi (right)

‘Oborozuki’ ("Hazy Moon")
This is a variety named ‘Oborozuki’, registered in 1999, which is a crossing between ‘Mangetsu’ and ‘Osaraku’ and has a wonderful stamen system with about 200 filaments. Mr. Nishimura’s most favorite hybrid, he says.

‘Nobuko-no-fu’ ("Nobuko’s Note")
This variety, which is a crossing between ‘Asagao’ and ‘Hatsuwarai’, has beautiful petals of pink. It was registered in 1999.

‘Hitomi-no-hime’ ("Princess Hitomi")
This variety is also a relatively new one, registered in 1999. The proportion between the sizes of petals and the stamen system is exquisite.

‘Ichifusa’ (a place name)
This is a natural mutation of ‘Yamato-nishiki’ , which has gorgeous petals with finely white-striped red color. This was registered in 1999.