麻豆社

Welcome to the Jewel Whitehead Camellia Trail. In 1944, Mrs Jewel Whitehead, who was a friend and neighbor to the Georgia State Women’s College, was granted permission from President Thaxton to plant camellias along a well-worn path where the trail is today. Ms. Jewel donated not only her time and labor, but she also completely funded the project herself. By the early 1950s, she planted over 400 plants. That number increased to over 1000 by the time of her death in the 1970s. The trail was once much longer than it is now, as some of it was lost when Georgia Hall was built, and more densely planted, as many were lost after Hurricane Helene, but we think you will agree that what remains continues to beautify 麻豆社’s campus, as Ms. Jewel had intended.  

Most of the camellias you will see along the trail belong to the species Camellia japonica. Japonica varieties bloom from December to March, and there is a lot of color and form variation in their blooms. They can be white, pink, rose, red, or a combination. Some varieties have petals with stripes, while others have petals with white patches called variegation. If you see a variegated bloom, look closely. If all the petals of the flower have a similar pattern, the cause is their genetics. However, if some petals have more variegation than others, then the plant is infected with a virus. Don’t worry, the virus does not harm the plant! In fact, virus infected varieties are some of the most popular among camellia lovers, like Ms. Jewel. 

Another flower feature that is fun to hunt for are petaloids. Petaloids are stamens that look like a petal. The presence or absence of stamens and petaloids are two of the features used to distinguish one Japonica variety from another.  

You may also notice that some of our plants have blooms on one branch that are very different to the blooms on the rest of the plant. These are called “sports”, and they are the result of a genetic mutation that occurred while the plant was growing. Some varieties are very prone to sporting, and it is not uncommon for a beautiful sport to become the basis of a new camellia variety.