Camellia sinensis

"Tea plant" redirects here. For the unrelated evergreen plant, see ti plant.

Camellia sinensis
Camellia sinensis foliage
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Theaceae
Genus: Camellia
Species:
C. sinensis
Binomial name
Camellia sinensis
Native range of Camellia sinensis
Synonyms[2]
Camellia sinensis
    • Camellia angustifolia Hung T. Chang
    • Camellia arborescens Hung T. Chang & F. L. Yu
    • Camellia assamica (J. W. Masters) Hung T. Chang
    • Camellia dehungensis Hung T. Chang & B. H. Chen
    • Camellia dishiensis F. C. Zhang et al.
    • Camellia longlingensis F. C. Zhang et al.
    • Camellia multisepala Hung T. Chang & Y. J. Tang
    • Camellia oleosa (Loureiro) Rehder
    • Camellia parvisepala Hung T. Chang.
    • Camellia parvisepaloides Hung T. Chang & H. S. Wang.
    • Camellia polyneura Hung T.Chang, Y.J.Tan & P.S.Wang
    • Camellia thea Link
    • Camellia theifera Griffith
    • Camellia waldeniae S. Y. Hu
    • Thea assamica J. W. Masters
    • Thea bohea L.
    • Thea cantonensis Loureiro
    • Thea chinensis Sims
    • Thea cochinchinensis Loureiro
    • Thea grandifolia Salisbury
    • Thea olearia Loureiro ex Gomes
    • Thea oleosa Loureiro
    • Thea parvifolia Salisb.
    • Thea sinensis L.
    • Thea viridis L.
    • Theaphylla cantonensis (Loureiro) Rafinesque

Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves, leaf buds, and stems can be used to produce tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (unrelated to Melaleuca alternifolia, the source of tea tree oil, or the genus Leptospermum commonly called tea tree).

White tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong, dark tea (which includes pu-erh tea) and black tea are all harvested from one of two major varieties grown today, C. sinensis var. sinensis and C. s. var. assamica,[3] but are processed differently to attain varying levels of oxidation with black tea being the most oxidized and white being the least.[4] Kukicha (twig tea) is also harvested from C. sinensis, but uses twigs and stems rather than leaves.

  1. ^ Rivers, M.C.; Wheeler, L. (2018). "Camellia sinensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T62037625A62037628. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T62037625A62037628.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference FOC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ ITIS Standard Report Page Camellia Sinensis Archived 19 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 2009-03-28.
  4. ^ Preedy, V.R. (2013). Tea in Health and Disease Prevention. Elsevier Science. pp. 199–200. ISBN 978-0-12-384937-3. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2022.