tea tree

The tea plant is an evergreen shrub of the genus Camellia in the family Theaceae, often appearing as a clump of shrubs. Its leaves are thin, leathery, elliptic-lanceolate or elongated, with short petioles and blunt tips. The flowers are white, arranged in umbellate inflorescences with curved pedicels. The fruit is spherical, and the seeds are brownish. The flowering period is from September to October, and the fruiting period is in November.

Morphological characteristics

The tea plant is a shrub or small tree of the genus Camellia in the family Theaceae, with young branches being hairless. The leaves are leathery, oblong or elliptical, measuring 4-12 cm in length and 2-5 cm in width, with blunt or acute tips and wedge-shaped bases. The upper surface is glossy, while the lower surface is hairless or initially covered with soft hairs. There are 5-7 pairs of lateral veins, and the edges are serrated. The petioles are 3-8 mm long and hairless.

1-3 flowers are axillary, white, with pedicels 4-6 mm long, occasionally slightly longer; two bracts, deciduous early; five sepals, broadly ovate to round, 3-4 mm long, glabrous, persistent; five to six petals, broadly ovate, 1-1.6 cm long, slightly connate at the base, glabrous on the back, sometimes with short pubescence; stamens 8-13 mm long, with a base connation of 1-2 mm; ovary densely covered with white hairs; stigma glabrous, apex 3-lobed, lobes 2-4 mm long.

Survival habits

Generally, it is sandy loam soil with a soil layer thickness of more than 1 meter and no limestone, good drainage, organic matter content of 1% -2% or more, good ventilation, permeability or water storage performance, and a suitable pH value of 4.5~6.5. The average rainfall is above 1500 millimeters per year. Both deficiency and excess have an impact. Light is the primary condition for the survival of tea trees, neither too strong nor too weak. They have a special preference for ultraviolet radiation, so high mountains produce good tea.

Growth management

After the tea buds sprout, as the temperature continues to rise to 14-16 ℃, the tea buds gradually unfold into tender leaves. The optimal temperature for tea tree growth is between 20-30 ℃. If within this range, the tea shoots will accelerate their growth, with an average elongation of 1-2 centimeters or more per day.

Bottom fertilizer is a fertilizer applied before sowing tea seeds or planting tea seedlings, generally consisting of organic fertilizer and phosphorus fertilizer. 10 tons of organic fertilizer such as manure or compost and 30-50 kilograms of tea tree specific fertilizer are applied per mu. When the amount of base fertilizer is small, it should be concentrated in the sowing ditch. When there is a large amount of bottom fertilizer, it should be applied in layers comprehensively, that is, first remove the mature soil, keep the raw soil still, open a ditch about 50 centimeters, loosen the soil at the bottom of the ditch by 15-20 centimeters, mix the fertilizer with the soil layer by layer, apply the bottom layer first, then the second layer, and finally put back the mature soil.

Tea trees can be harvested in small quantities from about three years after planting, reach their peak production period after ten years, and begin to age after thirty years. At this time, the tea trees can be cut off from the base to allow them to grow again, and then replanted after aging.

Main value

[ Drinking ]

In spring and autumn, tea leaves can be picked to make tea. The seeds can be pressed for oil. The trunk is fine and can be used for carving. Tea is rich in a variety of nutrients. It has a special medical and health care effect. In addition to reducing cholesterol and preventing arteriosclerosis, it also has a better preventive effect on radiation, cancer, anemia and other diseases. The Chinese people were not only the first to discover and utilize tea trees, but also have the largest variety of tea leaves in the world. Tea carrying techniques, tea making techniques, and tea drinking habits from all over the world originate from China.

[Brewing Wine]

Tea tree flower wine is a new generation of flavored wine made mainly from tea tree flowers through biological fermentation, filtration, blending, aging, degree reduction, sterilization and other processes. This wine has a low degree, bright color, mild taste, and is rich in nutrients such as tea polyphenols, amino acids, tea polysaccharides, and proteins. The health wine developed from tea and tea tree flowers has both the flavor of wine and the health benefits of tea, making it a beverage with excellent color, aroma, and taste.