 Camellias that set seed, though they did not flower for more than a decade, rewarded their growers with a wealth of new varieties.By the 1840s, the camellia was at the height of its fashion as "the" luxury flower.The Parisian courtesan Marie Duplessis, who died young in 1847, inspired Dumas' "La Dame aux camélias" and Verdi's "La Traviata".