Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) is a plant species in Theaceae where leaves and twigs are used to make drinks. White tea, green tea, oolong tea and black tea or red tea are produced by the leaves of this species, but are processed differently to obtain different levels of oxidation, while Kukicha is produced from twigs.
A small shrub or tree that is usually trimmed at the top to harvest leaves. Strong taproots, yellow-white flowers 2.5-4 cm in diameter and 7-8 petals. The leaves have 4-15 cm long, 2-5 cm wide and short white hairs at the bottom. Young leaves are light green and dark leaves are darker in color.
Seeds are pressed or squeezed to get oil as a spice that has a rather sweet taste and cooking oil, while wood produces an essential oil that is used for health and beauty purposes. Fresh leaves contain caffeine 4%. Younger leaves are more preferred, usually shoots until the first three leaves are harvested for processing. Harvesting is repeated every two weeks.
This plant are cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions with at least 50 inches of rainfall per year. Many high-quality teas come from a height of up to 1500 meters because these species grow more slowly and produce better taste. Plants will become trees if they grow wild, while cultivated tea plants will be routinely pruned.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Theaceae
Genus: Camellia L. in Sp. Pl.: 698 (1753)
Species: Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze in Um die Erde: 500 (1881)
Varieties: Camellia sinensis var. assamica (Royle ex Hook.) Steenis, Camellia sinensis var. dehungensis (Hung T.Chang, H.S.Wang & B.H.Chen) T.L.Ming, Camellia sinensis var. madoensis T.V.Nguyen, V.D.Luong & N.Trieu Le, Camellia sinensis var. pubilimba Hung T.Chang, Camellia sinensis var. sinensis
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Camellia thea Link in Enum. Hort. Berol. Alt. 2: 73 (1822)
Thea sinensis L. in Sp. Pl.: 515 (1753)
PUBLICATIONS
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Barooah, C. & Ahmed, I. (2014). Plant diversity of Assam. A checklist of Angiosperms and Gymnosperms: 1-599. Assam science technology and environment council, India.
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Chang, C.S., Kim, H. & Chang, K.S. (2014). Provisional checklist of vascular plants for the Korea peninsula flora (KPF): 1-660. DESIGNPOST.
Choudhary, R.K., Srivastava, R.C., Das, A.K. & Lee, J. (2012). Floristic diversity assessment and vegetation analysis of Upper Siang district of eastern Himalaya in North East India. Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy 42: 222-246.
Davis, P.H. (ed.) (1967). Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands 2: 1-581. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. Chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Figueiredo, E., Paiva, J., Stévart, T., Oliveira, F. & Smith, G.F. (2011). Annotated catalogue of the flowering plants of São Tomé and Príncipe. Bothalia, A Journal of Botanical Research 41: 41-82.
Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].
Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
Grierson, A.J.C. & Long, D.G. (1984). Flora of Bhutan 1(2): 189-462. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
Iwatsuki, K., Boufford, D.E. & Ohba, H. (eds.) (2006). Flora of Japan IIa: 1-550. Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590. Smithsonian Institution.
Lê, T.C. (2003). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 2: 1-1203. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.
Mao, A.A. & Dash, S.S. (2020). Flowering Plants of India an Annotated Checklist (Dicotyledons) 1: 1-970. Botanical Survey of India.
Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
Nguyễn, H.H. (2017). Thực Vật Chí Việt Nam. Flora of Vietnam 19: 1-357. Nhà xuất bản khoa học và kỹ thuật, Hà Nội.
Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.
Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Wu, Z., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D. (eds.) (2007). Flora of China 12: 1-534. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).
Zuloaga, F.O., Belgrano, M.J. & Zanotti, C.A. (eds.) (2021). Flora Argentina. Flora vascular de la República Argentina 19(2): 1-466. INTA, IMBIV & IBODA.
VERNACULAR NAME
Afrikaans: Teestruik, Tee
Assamese: Cha
Austria: Teepflanze
Bengali: Cha
Botswana: Tee
Chinese (simplified): 茶 - 茶树
Chinese (traditional): 茶樹 - 茶树
Czech: čajovník čínský
Danish: Tebusk
English: Tea plant, Tea shrub, Tea tree, Tea
Finnish: Teepensas
French: Théier
German: Teepflanze
Hindi: चाय - चैकापट्टा Chaay, Chaikapatta
Hong Kong: 茶樹
Indonesian: Tanaman teh, Teh
Italian: Pianta del Tè, Tè
Japanese: チャノキ
Java: Teh
Kannada: Tea gida, Tea, Chaha, Chahaa, Chaa
Korean: 차나무
Láadan: Zhu
Lithuanian: Kininis arbatmedis
Macao: 茶樹
Malayalam: Chaya, Theyila, Tey
Manipuri: Cha
Marathi: Chahaa
Mizo: Thingpui
Nepali: चिया Chiyaa
Oria: Cha
Polish: Herbata chińska
Portuguese: Planta do chá
Russian: Камелия китайская - Чайный куст - Чай
Sanskrit: Syamaparni
Slovak: čajovník čínsky
Spanish: Planta de té
Taiwan: 茶樹
Tamil: தேயிலாய் - தேய் Theyilai, Tey
Telugu: Teyaku, Theyaka
Thai: ชา
Tswana: Tee
Turkish: çay
Ukrainian: Чай - Чайний кущ - Чайне дерево - Чай китайський - Камелія китайська
Urdu: چاے Chaay
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