The complete chloroplast genome of Camellia semiserrata Chi. (Theaceae), an excellent woody edible oil and landscaping species in South China

Camellia semiserrata is a woody plant that produces excellent edible oil and is a common landscaping species in South China. The complete chloroplast genome of C. semiserrata was sequenced, assembled, annotated, and characterized using the Illumina MiSeq platform in this study. The chloroplast genome is 156,968 bp (37.32% GC) and contains a large single copy (LSC) region (86,634 bp), a small single copy (SSC) region (18,272 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (26,031 bp). It encodes a total of 117 genes, including 81 protein-coding genes, four ribosomal RNA genes, and 32 transfer RNA genes. The phylogenetic tree fully resolved C. semiserrata in a clade with C. reticulata, C. mairei, and C. pitardii. This study contributes to bioinformatics and further phylogeny and conservation studies as well as provides a theoretical basis for the molecular identification of C. semiserrata.