Silky Camellia is also known as Wild Camellia.

Plant is an upright shrub with a rounded crown. Height is usually no more than 15 feet with a trunk diameter of about six inches. Preferred habitat is moist woods and at the edge of streams. Distribution is throughout the Escambia region.

Leaves are alternate; consisting of one whole part; short leaf stalks; widest at the center; tapering to the tip with sides less than equal; leaf margins are toothed and leaf base is wedge-shaped.

Flowers are solitary in the leaf axil; bisexual; symmetrical; five sepals; five petals; white to off-white; numerous stamens that are attached to the petals. Flowers occur in the spring.

Fruit is a capsule

Silky Camellia is seen in large colonies along Murder Creek near Brewton, Alabama where the creek merges with the Escambia River a short distance south of Brewton. There is widespread belief that the Silky Camellia is the state flower of Alabama, which is not true. The state flower is the Common Camellia, a domestic shrub, regardless of color.