The golden-flower camellias of the family Theaceae are threatened by overcollection of the flowers for making tea, digging up of the whole plant for use in landscaping, and habitat destruction. Camellia mingii, known only from Funing County, south-eastern Yunnan province in south-west China, was described in 2019. It is categorized as Endangered on the China Biodiversity Red List–Higher Plants of 2020 but has not yet been assessed for the IUCN Red List. The species is one of the second-ranked National Key Protected Wild Plants and one of the 101 target species in the Yunnan Provincial Conservation Action Plan for Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations (2021–2030).
From October 2020 to December 2023, we carried out field surveys in the type locality of C. mingii and in adjacent areas. We recorded a total of c. 500 mature individuals in three populations, none of which are within a protected area, and the habitat of one population has been degraded by cropping of the economically valuable spice Amomum villosum. With a narrow distribution range, limited number of individuals and a high risk of extinction as a result of anthropogenic activities, C. mingii requires urgent conservation attention.
We collected seeds of C. mingii in October 2021, and 125 seedlings have been propagated in Kunming Botanical Garden. The average height of these young plants is c. 45 cm, and we are now also trying to propagate the species by tissue culture. Our additional investigations show that the associated plant community of C. mingii includes 222 species and that C. mingii has low genetic diversity and a high inbreeding coefficient.
Camellia mingii blooming in the wild. Photo: Lei Cai.
As anthropogenic disturbance and habitat degradation are the main threats to this camellia, one of the most urgent conservation actions is to protect the three populations from collection and habitat destruction. In addition, further ex situ conservation, population reinforcement and population restoration programmes are needed.
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