I have had some camellias "change color" but Mine-no-yuki was not one of them. Eleanor McCown which normally has white with red streaks, started producing all pink flowers on one side of the bush. It could be caused by genetics or an usually harmless virus. And by mis-labeled plants of course. Unfortunately, with a name like Snow in the mountain, I would prefer that it not give pink blooms (hee hee hee!). But my odd-looking EM was pretty when in bloom.

Dear luis_pr,
It sounds as if your 'Eleanor McCown' is sporting to 'Kathryn McCown,' its common pink mutation. We have an 'Eleanor McCown' that has been producing that pink mutation for years. 'Kathryn McCown' is listed in _Camellia Nomenclature_.

As far as 'Mine-no-Yuki' is concerned, we've grown that sasanqua for years; and it always blooms as white as the purest wind-driven snow. Maybe it's sporting? Could it be grafted onto some other sasanqua root stock and reverting to the graft?

I do not know of any sporting (or mutation as it's also called) on Mine-no-yuki. Some camellias do this while others do not.

Another idea: Is there one stem from the root system, or are there many? In some instances where growers might use one or more cuttings in a pot, it could be that a pink cutting of a sasanqua found it's way into the pot - just a theory, not a concrete solution though.

I could not find a pink parent for Mine-no-yuki so I doubt this problem is due to genetics. That leaves a virus, a mislabeled plant or, as camelliagirl suggests, two camellias in the original pot. Eleanor McCown and its relatives appear not to be stable genetically as they sport a lot but Mine-no-yuki does appear to be stable compared to others.

Dear luis_pr:
You were not able to find a pink parent for 'Mine-no-Yuki' because the camellia literature indicates that it is an old variety of unknown parentage. How, then, can anyone determine its genetic background? 'Tis a horticultural mystery.