Shrub. Branchlets hairy or not. Leaves elliptic, tip generally rounded, but with a long taper to the tip in var. assamica, mostly 5-9 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, shiny dark green above, pale below and hairy at first. Flowers mostly in pairs on curved stalks 1-1.5 cm long, white (occasionally specimens sold under this name are pink), petals mostly 7-8, shortly fused with the stamens at the base. Bracts mostly paired (sometimes 3) about half way down the stalk. Stamens mostly 1-1.2 cm long, outer ones shortly fused at the base. Styles 3(-5). Ovary hairy. Fruit with 1-3 cells each with 1-2 seeds.
China, Taiwan, Japan
The source of commercial tea. Plantation tea is generally grown in the subtropics and montane tropics in India, Sri Lanka, China, Africa, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and on a small scale in Australia.
Flower stalks long, curved with mostly 1 pair of bracts at mid-point. 1a Leaves with long-tapered tips var. assamica b Leaves pointed at tip but not with an extended taper var. sinensis
var. assamica (Mast.) Kitamura. Leaves tapering to a long point larger than those of var. sinensis. The major source of commercial tea which is a stimulant containing caffeine, polyphenols and essential oils that give the beverage its flavour; also said to have medicinal properties. This variety is the source of Indian tea and the variety that is grown in tea plantations in Papua New Guinea and North Queensland (where the plantations at Innisfail were established by Dr Maruff in 1960. By 1970 they had trunks 10 cm thick).
var. sinensis is the tea plant of China and Japan; it differs from the above variety in not possessing long-tapered tips to the leaves. Dr Withers has stock of this variety imported by McArthur c. 1850.
Source: (1997). Camellia. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
