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Camellia sinensis
Also called Tea plant, Japanese Tea, Black Tea, Common Tea, Green Tea, Teabush, Teaplant
Tea (Camellia sinensis) is an evergreen shrub or small tree grown commercially for its leaves, which are made into green, black, oolong and other teas. Plants grow best in rich, moist, well-drained soil with plenty of rain and are usually pruned to waist height on plantations.
Camellia sinensis, commonly known as tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree, is a species of evergreen shrub in the flowering plant family Theaceae. The leaves harvested from C. sinesis are brewed into tea.
Originally native to the highlands of the Hengduan–Purvanchal region between southwestern China, northern Myanmar and northeastern India, the leaves, buds and stems of C. sinensis are harvested by humans to produce tea, leading to its artificial introduction and cultivation as valuable cash crops in many other parts of the world, with China, India and Kenya being the three largest tea-producing countries.
Camellia sinensis is mainly cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates, in areas with at least 127 cm (50 in) of rainfall a year. Tea plants prefer a rich and moist growing location in full to part sun, and can be grown in hardiness zones 7–9. However, the species is commercially cultivated from the equator to as far north as Scotland, with the northernmost tea plantation at 59°N latitude on Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands. Many high quality teas are grown at high elevations, up to 2,200 m (7,200 ft), as the plants grow more slowly and acquire more flavour.
Tea plants will grow into a tree if left undisturbed, but cultivated plants are pruned to waist height for ease of plucking. Two principal varieties are used, the small-leaved Chinese variety plant (C. s. var. sinensis) and the large-leaved Assamese plant (C. s. var. assamica), used mainly for black tea. Tea trees can remain productive for many years.
The origins of tea plants are obscured by their long history of cultivation. The natural range is unknown, though it is reasonably certain that the species comes from East Asia with the exact location being debated by experts.
Hong Kong Camellia · Camellia · Tea Oil Plant · Camellia petelotii · To-tsubaki · Sasanqua camellia · Camellia taliensis · Camellia ×williamsii · Tea
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Camellia sinensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
