genus of about 120 species of East Asian evergreen shrubs and trees, belonging to the tea family (Theaceae), most notable for a few ornamental flowering species and for C. sinensis (sometimes called Thea sinensis), the source of tea. The common camellia (C. japonica) is the best known, particularly for its double (many-petaled) cultivated varieties, whose overlapping petals range in colour from white through pink to red and variegated. In the wild form five to seven petals surround a mass of yellow stamens, with sepals dropping as the petals open. The tree has glossy green, oval leaves usually about 10 cm (4 inches) long and reaches a height of about 9 metres (30 feet).