Scientific name: Camellia longii Orel & Luu
English name:
Vietnamese name: Trà long
Other name:

Perennial, small to medium variable, rather sparse, ever-green shrub, 2.5 – 4.0 m high; sometimes multi-stemmed, with upright habit; new shoots mid green, sometimes with slight reddish tinge, later mottled brown, otherwise shiny, glabrous; older branches light brown, slightly corky, shiny, glabrous, mature branches light brown, mottled with lighter patches, smooth, glabrous; distal leaf petiole partially obstructed by leaf lamina on adaxial side, abaxially forming a widened, light green and shiny, conical structure that seamlessly and gradually merges with the narrower primary vein; petiole thick compressed and slightly falcate, some-times slightly twisted, light green or yellowish to mid-green, sometimes proximally light brown, darker brown when senescing, otherwise shiny, glabrous, sometimes proximally slightly corky, 0.8 – 1.1 ( – 1.3) cm long, 3.0 – 5.0 (6.0) mm wide, 3.0 – 4.0 mm thick, generally slightly ascending, its angle of attachment variable (45 °– 85 °); the leaf lamina forms a less than 1.0 mm high ridge on each side of the adaxial petiole, forming a shallow, flat channel; axillary buds rudimentary, roughly triangular, mid brown; bud scales not visible, less than 1.0 mm long; terminal buds prominent, long and narrow, soft, almost white, glabrous, with sharp apex, variable in size; juvenile leaves forming a narrow tube when very young, soft, pendulous, dark purple to lilac to red, sometimes almost brown; developing leaves pendulous, narrow, shiny, glabrous, their adaxial venation light green; mature leaves irregularly, sparsely and distinctly serrate with serrations oriented abaxially, their margins undulate, 27.0 – 31.0 cm long, 6.0 – 9.0 ( – 10.5) cm wide; lamina thin, slightly coriaceous, variable, narrow elliptic to narrow oblong; leaf apex cuspidate to acuminate; base variably obtuse to rounded, somewhat amplexicaul; adaxial leaf surface glabrous, mid to dark green and shiny, lighter green and dull below, glabrous; blade midrib up to 3.0 ( – 4.0) mm wide proximally, less than 1.0 mm distally, light green to yellowish-green on both sides, adaxially slightly prominent to slightly sunken, abaxially prominent; secondary venation distinctly brochidodro-mous, with 14 – 16 ( – 18) pairs of veins adaxially sunken, abaxially prominent; tertiary venation indistinct, adaxially slightly sunken, abaxially slightly prominent, areolation well developed, meshes unevenly triangular-tetragonal and of inconstant size, with maximum areole dimensions 3.0 7.0 mm, although generally smaller (Hickey 1979). Flowers pedunculate, unevenly ellipsoid to ovoid, axillary and terminal, solitary, lacking scent; mature flowers cam-panulate or almost campanulate; peduncle stout, fleshy, shiny, glabrous, slightly falcate, wider distally, dark orange, red, to purple, up to 2.0 cm long, 4.0 – 5.0 ( – 6.0) mm wide, with two to four deciduous bracteoles; bracteoles triangular or almost triangular, soft, purplish to brown, variable in size, distally increasing in size, ( – 2.0) 5.0 – 8.0 mm long, 1.5 – 2.5 ( – 5.0) mm wide, randomly distributed over the length of the peduncle; fl ower buds solitary, not numerous, narrowly elliptic, elliptic, ovate to obovate, distally not sharp, shiny, rigid, glabrous, of slightly lighter colour than mature flowers; flowers 4.5 – 5.5 ( – 6.0) cm long, 3.5 – 5.0 cm in diameter, distally glabrous, shiny, rigid, tubular; petaloids and petals in three whorls that are proximally fused for up to 1.5 ( – 1.0) cm; the outer whorl 2 petaloids up to 4.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, although generally smaller, dark orange to red, proximally fused for up to 1.5 cm, rigid and thicker than petals, thinner towards the margins, concave, asym-metrically ovate to obovate, sometimes emarginate, their margins whitish, ruffled, slightly opaque; outer surface finely hairy in uneven patches; inner surface scabrous; the middle whorl 2 ( – 3) petals up to 5.0 cm long, 4.5 cm wide, proximally fused for 1.0 – 1.5 cm, intensely dark orange to red with uneven whitish margins, 3.0 – 5.0 mm wide, strongly concave and asymmetric, elliptical, ovate to obo-vate, distinctly emarginate with margins thinner, slightly ruffl ed; finely hairy on the outer surface; scabrous with vis-ible venation on the inner surface, rigid and easily damaged; the inner whorl of 3 overlapping petals in a tubular forma-tion, dark orange to red, variable in size, 4.0 – 4.5 ( – 5.0) cm long, ( – 2.5) 3.0 – 3.5 cm wide, strongly concave, but appear to be elliptic on account of being strongly concave, slightly asymmetric, obovate, their apex blunt, rarely emarginate, with whitish margins without ruffles; outer petal surface finely hairy, inner surface slightly striated, scabrous to smooth; perules in 2 whorls that form an uneven, rather loose spiral; the outer whorl, of 2 perules, red with ran-domly distributed areas of brown pigmentation, 1.0 – 1.2 cm long, 1.0 – 1.7 cm wide, semi-orbicular, persistent, rather thin, their margins slightly wavy; the inner whorl, of 3 perules, red with few randomly distributed areas of brown pigmentation, 1.0 – 1.2 cm long, 1.3 – 1.4 cm wide, semi orbicular to ovate, their apex blunt, persistent, rather thin, with margins slightly wavy; stamens numerous, in a circular formation that is 2.5 – 3.5 cm in diameter, contained entirely within the flower; filaments 3.0 – 3.5 cm long, in a tight formation, white, later dark yellow to brown, basally joined for 1.0 – 1.2 cm, roughly textured, glabrous; inner filaments marginally longer than the outer ones; anthers yellow, oblong or almost so, 3.0 – 3.5 mm long, 1.0 mm wide, with two longitudinal striations, dorsi-fixed; style com-pound, proximally fused for ca 5.0 mm, 5 – 6-parted distally, slender, 4.5 – 4.7 cm long, not straight, finely pubescent proximally, glabrous distally; stigma indistinct; ovary supe-rior, almost diamond shaped, with slight longitudinal striations, 4 – 6 carpellate, densely, finely tomentose, yellowish – green, very small, 3.0 – 4.0 mm long, 4.0 – 5.0 ( – 6.0) mm wide. Mature fruit and seed not seen.

Phenology. The new species was collected in flower in September and November. Fruit capsules or seed not seen.

Distribution. Camellia longiiis known from its type location only, which is situated within the confines of the northern part of the Cat Tien National Park (Cat Loc) in Lam Dong Province, Viet Nam. The new species was found in the vicinity of Hamlet 4, Phuoc Cat Commune. Camellia longiioccurs sporadically in small groups of mature plants, or as solitary specimens throughout the under-story of the ever-green, mixed (broad leaf and bamboo), tropical forest. C. longii thrives in relatively rich, wet, but well drained soils and in low light conditions.

Conservation status. As the present area of the mixed tropical forest in Cat Loc is known to extend over less than 150 km2, it is estimated that the total area of C. longiidistribution may be analogous. This habitat, which has already been reduced by continual agri-cultural activities, is currently threatened by inundation, a result of the planned construction of a hydroelectric dam. Given this situation, we consider the IUCN category of ‘ Endangered ’ (EN) to be appropriate (IUCN 2011). Ex situ conservation measures should be urgently considered to ensure the species ’ survival.