also: さんちゃ
noun
common camellia; Camellia japonica
Only with reading つばき / ツバキ
Refers to the Japanese/common camellia, a flowering evergreen often associated with winter or early spring. 椿 is the normal written form; ツバキ is also seen for the plant name.
庭の椿が赤い花を咲かせた。
The camellia in the garden bloomed with red flowers.
ツバキの油は髪の手入れに使われる。
Camellia oil is used for hair care.
noun
tea produced in the mountains
Only when written 山茶 · Only with reading さんちゃ
Archaic noun read さんちゃ and written 山茶. This is a separate old use meaning tea produced in mountainous areas, not the ordinary plant name 椿.
古い文献では、「山茶」が山で作られた茶を指すことがある。
In old texts, 山茶 (sancha) can refer to tea produced in the mountains.
Rare attested spelling for camellia; 椿 is the normal modern spelling.
Archaic reading and meaning, distinct from 椿 read つばき.
The historical derivation of つばき is uncertain. 椿 is the standard conventional kanji for the camellia; 山茶 and 海石榴 are rare attested written forms, while 山茶 read さんちゃ transparently matches the archaic sense 'mountain tea.'