Camellia sinensis, commonly known as tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree, is a species of evergreen shrub in the flowering plant family Theaceae. 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.
Tea leaves used to make white tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong, dark tea (which includes pu'er tea) and black tea are all made from two of the five varieties of C. sinensis that form the bulk of the tea crops now grown, C. sinensis var. sinensis and C. sinensis var. assamica, but are processed differently to attain varying levels of oxidation, with black tea being the most oxidized and white being the least. Kukicha (twig tea) is also made from C. sinensis, but uses only twigs and stems rather than leaves and buds.
Names The name sinensis is a compound meaning "from China" in Botanical Latin. The two parts are sin from Latin meaning China and -ensis the suffix meaning place of origin.
The generic name Camellia is taken from the Latinized name of Rev. Georg Kamel, SJ (1661–1706), a Moravian-born Jesuit lay brother, pharmacist, and missionary to the Philippines.
Camellia sinensis is widely known by the common name tea tree, a name in use since 1760. However, it is also used to refer to shrubs or trees of the myrtle family from Australia and New Zealand, most frequently species in Leptospermum or Melaleuca the first usage dating to 1790. Tea trees are also variously called tea-bushes, tea-shrubs, and tea-plants.
Description Camellia sinensis is a woody shrub or tree that is typically tall, but can be as tall as . It is usually trimmed to a height of about with a flat top when in commercial tea plantations. The bark on trunks is smooth and gray with a yellow or brown tone. Young branches are yellow with a gray cast to them while new twigs are red-purple with white hairs. In older trees the trunk reaches as much as 40 cm in diameter.
In seedlings the taproot is dominant, but in mature plants the distribution of roots depends upon individual plant characteristics and growing conditions. In areas with shallow soils or high water tables tea bushes will have a shallow, fibrous root system while in areas with deep soils root have been found at depths of 5.5 m. Tea bushes reach peak productivity at ages of 30 to 50 years, but can remain productive for over a century.
The leaves are an attractive green and tend to be smaller on cultivated plants than wild ones, ranging in size from and a width of . Their shape is elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or oblong, and they have a leathery texture. The upper surface is shining dark green and hairless while the underside is pale green and can be hairless or pubescent, covered in plant hairs. The center vein is raised above the surface of the leaf on both sides as are the smaller seven to nine veins to each side. The netlike veins between are also visible. The leaf tip has a wide angle and the edges are serrate to serrulate, having asymmetrical teeth that point forwards to very fine serrations.
The flowers are white, across with six to eight petals. They bud in the leaf and can be solitary or have up to three in a cluster. On the back of the flower there will be five sepals 3–5 mm long. One to three of the petals will be somewhat sepal-like and hidden behind the five visible at the front of the flower. The center of the flower is filled with numerous hairless stamens 8–13 mm long. They are arranged in as many as five concentric circles called whorls.
The fruit is a capsule with globe shape, usually flattened at the ends and measuring 1–1.5 cm top to bottom and 1.5-3.5 cm in diameter. Each fruit will have one to three round chambers with one or two seeds in each. The seeds are brown to almost black in color and are round, half-spheres, or have mulpile flat faces. They measure 1 to 2 cm and are hairless.
Taxonomy Linnaeus did not consider this plant a Camellia but placed it in a separate genus Thea. Then in 1818, Robert Sweet merged the two genera, selecting Camellia for the merged genus, and shifted all the former Thea species to that genus..
Five varieties of Camellia sinensis are accepted: Image Name Description Distribution C. sinensis var. sinensis Style fused apically 3-lobed. Widely grown for tea.China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang), Taiwan C. sinensis var. assamica Lower surface of leaves are villous along midvein. Widely grown for tea. Bhutan, China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan), Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam C. sinensis var. pubilimba Sepals are white and pubescent. China (W. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, SE. Yunnan) C. sinensis var. dehungensis Lower surface of leaf is appressed pubescent. China (S. Yunnan) C. sinensis var. madoensis Style is free half to the base. Vietnam (Phu Yen)
Camellia sinensis has synonyms of the species or of four of its five varieties. This includes 45 species names.
Table of Synonyms Name Year Rank Synonym of: Notes Camellia angustifolia 1981 species var. pubilimba = het. Camellia arborescens 1983 species var. sinensis = het. Camellia assamica 1945 species var. assamica ≡ hom. Camellia assamica var. kucha 1983 variety var. assamica = het. Camellia assamica subsp. lasiocalyx 1962 subspecies var. assamica = het. Camellia assamica var. polyneura 1998 variety var. assamica = het. Camellia bohea 1818 species var. viridis = het. Camellia dehungensis 1983 species var. dehungensis ≡ hom. Camellia dehungensis 1984 species var. dehungensis = het., nom. illeg. Camellia dishiensis 1990 species var. pubilimba = het. Camellia formosensis 2009 species var. viridis = het. Camellia kucha 2008 species var. assamica = het. Camellia longlingensis 1990 species var. viridis = het. Camellia manglaensis 1983 species var. dehungensis = het. Camellia multisepala 1983 species var. assamica = het. Camellia oleosa 1937 species var. virescens ≡ hom. Camellia parvisepala 1981 species var. pubilimba = het. Camellia parvisepaloides 1983 species var. dehungensis = het. Camellia polyneura 1983 species var. assamica = het. Camellia scottiana 1855 species var. assamica = het., not validly publ. Camellia sinensis var. dulcamara 2020 variety var. assamica = het. Camellia sinensis f. formosensis 1950 form var. virescens ≡ hom. Camellia sinensis var. kucha 1984 variety var. assamica = het. Camellia sinensis var. lasiocalyx 2016 variety var. assamica = het. Camellia sinensis f. macrophylla 1950 form var. virescens = het. Camellia sinensis f. parvifolia 1958 form D. viridis ≡ hom. Camellia sinensis f. rosea 1950 form D. viridis ≡ hom. Camellia sinensis f. ticinensis 2020 form var. virescens = het., cited basionym not validly publ. Camellia sinensis var. waldenae 1981 variety var. virescens ≡ hom. Camellia tenuistipa 2015 species var. assamica = het. Camellia thea 1822 species C. sinensis ≡ hom., nom. superfl. Camellia thea var. assamica 1901 variety var. assamica ≡ hom. Camellia thea var. bohea 1907 variety D. viridis ≡ hom. Camellia thea var. lasiocalyx 1907 variety var. assamica = het. Camellia thea var. stricta 1907 variety var. virescens = het. Camellia thea f. ticinensis 1940 form var. virescens = het., nom. nud. Camellia thea var. viridis 1907 variety var. virescens = het. Camellia theifera 1854 species var. assamica = het. Camellia theifera var. assamica 1893 variety var. assamica ≡ hom. Camellia theifera var. macrophylla 1883 variety var. viridis = het. Camellia viridis 1818 species D. viridis ≡ hom. Camellia waldenae 1977 species var. viridis = het. Thea assamica 1847 species var. assamica ≡ hom. Thea bohea 1762 species var. virescens = het. Thea bohea var. laxa 1789 variety var. virescens = het. Thea bohea var. stricta 1789 variety var. virescens = het. Thea cantoniensis 1790 species var. viridis = het. Thea chinensis 1807 species var. virescens ≡ hom., orth. var. Thea cochinchinensis 1790 species var. assamica = het. Thea formosensis 1937 species var. virescens = het. Thea grandifolia 1796 species var. viridis = het. Thea latifolia 1839 species var. virescens ≡ hom. Thea laxa 1798 species D. viridis ≡ hom. Thea longifolia 1821 species var. viridis = het., not validly publ. Thea macrophylla 1918 species var. viridis = het. Thea olearia 1868 species var. viridis = het. Thea oleosa 1790 species var. viridis = het. Thea parvifolia 1796 species var. virescens = het. Thea sasanqua var. oleosa 1887 variety var. viridis = het. Thea sinensis 1753 species C. sinensis ≡ hom. Thea sinensis var. assamica 1887 variety var. assamica ≡ hom., nom. illeg. Thea sinensis var. assamica 1883 variety var. assamica = het. Thea sinensis var. bohea 1853 variety var. viridis = het. Thea sinensis var. cantoniensis 1887 variety var. virescens ≡ hom. Thea sinensis var. diffusa 1835 variety D. viridis ≡ hom. Thea sinensis var. macrophylla 1835 variety var. virescens = het. Thea sinensis var. parvifolia 1867 variety var. viridis = het. Thea sinensis var. pubescens 1887 variety var. virescens = het. Thea sinensis var. rosea 1905 variety var. viridis = het. Thea sinensis var. rugosa 1835 variety var. viridis = het. Thea sinensis var. stricta 1835 variety D. viridis ≡ hom. Thea sinensis var. viridis 1887 variety var. virescens = het. Thea stricta 1821 species var. viridis = het. Thea viridis 1762 species var. viridis = het. Thea viridis var. assamica 1855 variety var. assamica ≡ hom. Thea viridis var. bohea 1799 variety var. virescens = het. Thea viridis variegata 1861 var. viridis = het. Thea yersinii 1943 species var. assamica = het., without a Latin descr. Theaphylla anamensis 1838 species var. viridis = het. Theaphylla cantoniensis 1838 species var. viridis = het. Theaphylla laxa 1838 species var. viridis = het. Theaphylla viridis 1838 species var. virescens ≡ hom. Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym
In 2017, Chinese scientists sequenced the genome of C. s. var. assamica. It contains about three billion base pairs, which is larger than most plants previously sequenced.
The Cambodia type tea ("C. assamica subsp. lasiocalyx") was originally considered a type of Assam tea. However, later genetic work showed that it is a hybrid between Chinese small leaf tea and Assam tea.
Chinese (small leaf) tea [C. sinensis var. sinensis] Chinese Western Yunnan Assam (large leaf) tea [C. sinensis var. assamica] Indian Assam (large leaf) tea [C. sinensis var. assamica] Chinese Southern Yunnan Assam (large leaf) tea [C. sinensis var. assamica]
Chinese (small leaf) tea may have originated in southern China possibly with hybridization of unknown wild tea relatives. However, since no wild populations of this tea are known, the precise location of its origin is speculative.
Given their genetic differences forming distinct clades, Chinese Assam type tea (C. s. var. assamica) may have two different parentages – one being found in southern Yunnan (Xishuangbanna, Pu'er City) and the other in western Yunnan (Lincang, Baoshan). Many types of Southern Yunnan Assam tea have been hybridized with the closely related species Camellia taliensis. Unlike Southern Yunnan Assam tea, Western Yunnan Assam tea shares many genetic similarities with Indian Assam type tea (also C. s. var. assamica). Thus, Western Yunnan Assam tea and Indian Assam tea both may have originated from the same parent plant in the area where southwestern China, Indo-Burma, and Tibet meet. However, as the Indian Assam tea shares no haplotypes with Western Yunnan Assam tea, Indian Assam tea is likely to have originated from an independent domestication. Some Indian Assam tea appears to have hybridized with the species Camellia pubicosta.