The Middlemist Red is a remarkable cultivar of the species Camellia japonica. This deep-pink flowering shrub holds the unofficial title of the rarest flower in the world, a status stemming from a historical accident of geography and near-extinction. Its story is one of a beautiful bloom that vanished almost entirely from the planet, leaving behind an extremely limited population. The intense interest in this plant is driven by its unique background and the question of how many of these living relics still exist.
The Definitive Global Count
The precise number of confirmed Middlemist Red plants is exceedingly small, with only two known specimens remaining in the world. This count gives the flower its reputation as a unique botanical treasure, maintained across two continents. One of these two original plants resides in the Chiswick House and Gardens in London, housed within the historic conservatory. The specimen is carefully protected as part of a significant collection of rare camellias.
The second confirmed plant is located thousands of miles away at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in New Zealand. How this specific plant found its way to the southern hemisphere remains a historical mystery. Both plants are monitored closely by horticulturalists, representing the last confirmed examples of the original lineage of this cultivar. These two locations are the only places one can find the established, documented Middlemist Red.
The History of the Middlemist Red
The story of the Middlemist Red begins in China, where it originated before the turn of the 19th century. Its introduction to the Western world occurred in 1804, facilitated by a London nurseryman named John Middlemist. He collected the plant during a period when exotic flora from Asia was highly sought after by European enthusiasts.
Middlemist transported the shrub back to England, where it was eventually named in his honor. This collection and export coincided with a devastating period for the plant in its native land. The variety soon disappeared completely from its Chinese habitat, a loss believed to be due to factors like over-cultivation and unchecked development.
The flower became extinct in the wild shortly after it was introduced to Europe, leaving the handful of exported specimens as the only survivors. This sudden disappearance in its homeland is the reason the Middlemist Red became so rare. The plants in England and New Zealand are the only living link to a lineage that was wiped out everywhere else.
Survival Through Human Intervention
The continued existence of the Middlemist Red is entirely dependent on deliberate human propagation techniques. As a specific cultivar, it often does not reproduce reliably from seed, meaning any new plant must be a genetic copy of the original. Horticulturists keep the lineage alive primarily through methods like cuttings and grafting.
Taking a cutting involves snipping a shoot from the existing plant and encouraging it to root, which creates a clone. Grafting involves joining a piece of the Middlemist Red onto the rootstock of a hardier camellia variety. These methods bypass the natural reproductive cycle, ensuring the exact genetic material of the rare plant is preserved.
Any new Middlemist Red plants established in other locations are direct clones of the two known original specimens. This reliance on asexual reproduction highlights the conservation efforts required to prevent the flower from disappearing entirely. The plant’s survival showcases the dedication of botanical science to preserving rare genetic diversity.