We visited Sant’Andrea di Compito’s camelietum yesterday – a stunning collection of over a thousand varieties of this far Eastern plant first introduced to the west in the eighteenth century. The camelietum was started up in 2002 using the micro-climate of a valley of Monte Serra. Over the years it has evolved into one of the finest world collections of a plant which also introduced tea drinking to the west and inspired Dumas the younger’s tale of tragic love – the libretto of Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’.

Ieri al camelietum di Sant’Andrea di Compito: una straordinaria collezione di oltre mille varietà di questa pianta dell’Estremo Oriente, introdotta per la prima volta in Occidente nel XVIII secolo.