The act of multiplication for Camellia species, creating new plants from existing ones, is a fundamental practice in horticulture. Successful reproduction allows gardeners and botanists to expand their collections and preserve desirable traits. This involves techniques that bypass sexual reproduction, focusing instead on vegetative methods to ensure genetic consistency. These methods may include cuttings, grafting, layering, and air layering.
Vegetative multiplication offers several advantages. It enables the rapid increase of plants exhibiting unique flower colors, forms, or disease resistance. Furthermore, because the new plant is a genetic clone of the parent, it maintains those specific characteristics, preventing variations that can arise from seed propagation. Historically, these techniques have been vital for conserving rare or exceptional cultivars and for commercial production of uniform plant material.
