Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

Camelia Road sounds rather exotic for Potton! This shrub, of Asian origin, is cultivated as an ornamental plant in warmer climes – and is certainly not indigenous to our area and our fickle temperatures.  Its large flower is very showy, characterized by conspicuous yellow stamens.  Alexandre Dumas immortalized the camellia in his novel, La Dame aux camélias (1848). 

Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, is of major commercial importance because tea is made from its leaves.  Tea oil is a sweet seasoning and cooking oil made by pressing the seeds of the Camellia oleifera, and is the most important cooking oil in southern China.  It is also used in the making of soaps and as a lubricant.