The Middlemist’s red belongs to the camellia genus and was imported from China as a luxury item in 1804, but was wiped from its native country. The credit for bringing the flower to Chiswick, West London, goes to a nurseryman from Shepherd’s Bush named John Middlemist, who the flower was named after.

Currently, the flower is found in only two locations: a garden in New Zealand, (Treaty House) and a greenhouse in the UK (Chiswick House & Gardens). It has flowered for more than two centuries.