(C.japonica), van Houtte Catalogue, 1856; Medici Spada, 1858, Catalogo nel Giardino a

Villa Quiete, p.4; Lemaire, ed., 1863, L’Illustration Horticole, vol.l0, pl.349: Like a huge

Flanders picotee, this magnificent camellia, of the class, perfection, was obtained from seed in

Italy. It has flowers of the largest size formed of large petals, mostly even and regularly

imbricated in rows. A prevailing background of pink is marked with numerous streaks of

crimson, with fine marks of the same colour on the petal edges. Flowers mid-season.

Originated by Delgrande, Rome, Italy. Orthographic variants: ‘Belle Romana’, ‘Belle de

Romana’. In America the names of a number of other camellia cultivars have, erroneously,

been applied to Bella Romana. According to Fendig, 1953, American Camellia Catalogue

these include ‘Madame de Strekaloff, ‘Bella Jeannette’, ‘Cleopatra’, ‘Tricolor Imbricata’,

‘General Lamoriciere’, ‘Duc de Orleans’, ‘Marguerite Gouillon’, ‘Punctata Major’, ‘La

Peppermint’. Sports which have been named are: La Bella, Bella Romana Red, Bella

Romana Pink and Tricolor Imbricata Rubra. Orthographic errors include: ‘Bella Romano’,

‘Bella Romama’. See colour photo, p.71, Macoboy, 1981, The Colour Dictionary of

Camellias. In Rollisson’s 1877-1878 Plant Catalogue, p.153 the description is: White striped

bright rose. Imbricated. It is possible that this is a sport. Note; Collected Papers, ICS

Congress, Kurume 2010, p.94, “Characterization and differentiation….; Jose Luis Couselo et

al”. Genotyping of the six cultivars identified as Bella Romana revealed that they were 4

different cultivars of C.japonica.