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WRITTEN BY
Campbell Ronald Harler
Adviser on tea to the Central Treaty Organization. Author of The Culture and Marketing of Tea.
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Alternative Titles: Camellia sinensis, Thea sinensis
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Tea production, cultivation of the tea plant, usually done in large commercial
operations. The plant, a species of evergeen (Camellia sinensis), is valued for its
young leaves and leaf buds, from which the tea beverage is produced. This article
treats the cultivation of the tea plant. For information on the processing of tea and
the history of its use, see the article tea.
tea plantation
Tea plantation, Sri Lanka.
Colby Otero
Varieties
The natural habitat of the tea plant is considered to be within the fan-shaped area
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between the Nagaland, Manipur, and Lushai hills along the Assam-Myanmar
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(Burma) frontier in the west; through to China, probably as farMembership
as Zhejiang province
in the east; and from this line south through the hills of Myanmar and Thailand into
Vi t Th th
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i i ti f th t l t Chi A dC b di 2/17
Vietnam. The three main varieties of the tea plant, China, Assam, and Cambodia,
each occur in their most distinct form at the extremes of the fan-shaped area. There
are an infinite number of hybrids between the varieties; such crosses can be seen in
almost any tea field.
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The China variety, a multistemmed bush growing as high as 9 feet (2.75 metres), is a
hardy plant able to withstand cold winters and has an economic life of at least 100
years. When grown at an altitude near that of Darjiling (Darjeeling) and Sri Lanka
(Ceylon), it produces teas with valuable flavour during the season’s second flush or
growth of new shoots.

The Assam variety, a single-stem tree ranging from 20 to 60 feet (6 to 18 metres) in
height and including several subvarieties, has an economic lifewith
of 40a Britannica
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regular pruning and plucking. The tea planter recognizes five main subvarieties: the
tender light-leaved Assam, the less tender dark-leaved Assam, the hardy Manipuri
and Burma types, and the very large-leaved Lushai. In Upper Assam the dark-leaved
Assam plant, when its leaves are highly pubescent, produces very fine quality “golden
tip” teas during its second flush. (The Chinese word pekho, meaning “white hair” or
“down,” refers to the “tip” in tea, which is correlated with quality.)
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The Cambodia variety, a single-stem tree growing to about 16 feet (5 metres) in

height, is not cultivated but has been naturally crossed with other varieties.
The mature leaves of the tea plant, differing in form according to variety, range from
1.5 to 10 inches (3.8 to 25 cm) in length, the smallest being the China variety and the
largest the Lushai subvariety. In harvesting, or plucking, the shoot removed usually
includes the bud and the two youngest leaves. The weight of 2,000 freshly plucked
China bush shoots may be 1 pound (0.45 kg); the same number of Assam shoots may
weigh 2 pounds (0.9 kg). Tea leaves may be serrated, bullate, or smooth; stiff or
flabby; the leaf pose ranges from erect to pendant; and the degree of pubescence
varies widely from plant to plant.

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Camellia sinensis
Leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis).
© Emran Mohd Tamil/Shutterstock.com
Cultivation
Three considerations in planning a tea estate are climate, soil acidity, and labour
availability.

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Rows of tea growing in Japan, with Mount Fuji in the background.
© Craig Hansen/Shutterstock.com
A suitable climate has a minimum annual rainfall of 45 to 50 inches (1,140 to 1,270

mm), with proper distribution. If there is a cool season, with average temperatures
20 °F (11 °C) or more below those of the warm season, the growth rate will decrease
and a dormant period will follow, even when the cool season is the wetter one.
Tea soils must be acid; tea cannot be grown in alkaline soils. A desirable pH value is
5.8 to 5.4 or less. A crop of 1,500 pounds of tea per acre (1,650 kg per hectare)
requires 1.5 to 2 workers per acre (3.7 to 4.9 workers per hectare) to pluck the tea
shoots and perform other fieldwork. Mechanical plucking has been tried but, because
of its lack of selectivity, cannot replace hand plucking. Ring in the new year 
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Scientific study of tea production began about 1890. Most tea-producing
maintain scientific research stations to study every aspect of the subject, including
seed production, clonal selection (for the propagation of single leaf cuttings), tea
nursery management, transplanting, development of the bush and subsequent

pruning and plucking, soil management and fertilizer use, and the ultimate
replanting of the stand. Although procedures in all countries are related, appropriate
details must be determined for each area. Since 1900, advancements in tea
cultivation have increased the average yield per acre in Assam from 400 to 1,000
pounds (180 to 450 kg), with many estates producing over 1,500 pounds (680 kg).
Pests And Diseases
The tea plant is subject to attack from at least 150 insect species and 380 fungus
diseases. In northeast India, where 125 pests and 190 fungi have been detected,
losses from pests and diseases have been estimated at 67 million pounds (30 million
kg) of tea per annum. More than 100 pests and 40 diseases occur in the tea fields of
Japan. Sri Lanka, where estates are close together or contiguous, has recorded many
blights and suffered serious losses. Africa has little trouble with blights; the tea
mosquito (Helopeltis theivora) is the only serious pest. The Caucasus, with a climate
similar to that of Japan, grows the China variety of plant and has no serious pests or
blights.

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Länkäran, Azerbaijan: tea plantation

A tea plantation in the Länkäran region of southern Azerbaijan.
Ria-Novosti/Sovfoto
Blight control has become highly developed. Northeast Indian scientists have issued
a list of 40 approved proprietary pesticides. Some of these pesticides cannot be
applied during the plucking season; others require that the two subsequent rounds of
weekly pluckings be discarded.
Campbell Ronald Harler
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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India: The British, 1600–1740
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…pro table line in the Chinese tea trade, whose imports increased more than 40-fold
by 1750.…
India: Economic policy and development
…industries of the era were tea, indigo, and coffee. British tea plantations were started
in northern India’s Assam Hills in the 1850s and in south India’s Nilgiri Hills some 20
years later. By 1871 there were more than 300 tea plantations, covering in excess of…
China: Economic development
…rights to the trade in tea and silk.…
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Tea production
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Camellia
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Camellia
plant genus

WRITTEN BY
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from
years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Camellia, genus of about 250 species of East Asian evergreen shrubs and trees
belonging to the tea family (Theaceae), most notable for a few ornamental flowering
species and for Camellia sinensis (sometimes called Thea sinensis), the source of tea.

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Camellia japonica
Yoshio Kobayashi/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The common camellia (C. japonica) is well known, particularly for its double (many-
petaled) cultivated varieties, whose overlapping petals range in colour from white
through pink to red and variegated. In the wild form, five to seven petals surround a
mass of yellow stamens, with sepals dropping as the petals open. The tree has glossy
green oval leaves, usually about 10 cm (4 inches) long, and reaches a height of about 9
metres (30 feet).
A similar but shorter species, C. reticulata, has flowers up to 15 cm (6 inches) wide and
dull green leaves. C. sasanqua, a loose straggling shrub with slightly fragrant flowers
that are 5 cm (2 inches) wide, can tolerate dryness and alkaline soils. It blooms in
autumn and frequently is grown as a wall or hedge plant.
The tea plant (C. sinensis) reaches 9 metres (30 feet) but in cultivation is kept to a low
mounded shrub, often pruned back to encourage development of young leaves. The
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flowers are fragrant, yellow-centred, white, and about 4 cm (1.6 inches) wide. See also
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This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty, Editor.
tea production
Tea production, cultivation of the tea plant, usually done in large commercial operations.
The plant, a species of evergeen (Camellia sinensis), is valued for its young leaves and
leaf buds, from which the tea beverage is produced. This article treats the cultivation of…
tea
Tea, beverage produced by steeping in freshly boiled water the young leaves and leaf
buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Two principal varieties are used, the small-leaved
China plant (C. sinensis sinensis) and the large-leaved Assam plant (C. sinensis…
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Camellia
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Tea production
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Cambodian tea plant
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Dicotyledon
plant

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Alternative Titles: Dicotyledones, Magnoliopsida, dicot
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Dicotyledon, byname dicot, any member of the flowering plants, orinangiosperms,
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has a pair of leaves, or cotyledons, in the embryo of the seed. There are about 175,000
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known species of dicots. Most common garden plants, shrubs and trees, and broad-
leafed flowering plants such as magnolias roses geraniums and hollyhocks are dicots
leafed flowering plants such as magnolias, roses, geraniums, and hollyhocks are dicots.
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Dicotyledon
Young castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) displaying its two prominent cotyledons, or embryonic leaves.
Rickjpelleg
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Dicots typically also have flower parts (sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils) based on a
plan of four or five, or multiples thereof, although there are exceptions. The leaves are
p a o ou o ve, o u t p es t e eo , a t oug t e e a e e cept o s. e eaves a e
net-veined in most, which means the vessels that conduct water and food show a
meshlike pattern. In the stems the vessels are usually arranged in a continuous ring
near the stem surface. About 50 percent of all dicot species are woody; they show an
annual increase in stem diameter as a result of the production of new tissue by the
cambium, a layer of cells that remain capable of division throughout the life of these
plants. Branching of stems is common, as are taproots. The microscopic pores
(stomates) on the leaf surfaces are usually scattered and are in various orientations. The
pollen grains typically have three germinal furrows or pores (tricolpate condition),
except in the more primitive families.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn, Managing Editor, Reference
Content.
forestry: Dicots
Finally, a more highly evolved group of forest trees is the dicots, or broad-leaved trees,
also called hardwoods. Their wood structure is complex, and each sort of broad-leaved
lumber has characteristic properties that t it for particular uses.…
angiosperm: Vegetative structures
…or seed leaves; in most dicots the cotyledons contain stored food in the form of
proteins, lipids, and starch, or they are photosynthetic and produce these products,
whereas in most monocots and some dicots the endosperm stores the food and the…
angiosperm: Stems
In woody dicots, the vascular cambium is formed in parts that grow toward each other
and unite. Each vascular bundle develops a meristematic area of growth from an
undifferentiated (parenchymatous) layer of cells between the primary xylem and primar…
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Alternative Titles: Camellia sinensis, Thea sinensis

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The Cambodia variety, a single-stem tree growing to about 16 feet (5 metres) in

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A suitable climate has a minimum annual rainfall of 45 to 50 inches (1,140 to 1,270

nursery management, transplanting, development of the bush and subsequent

Pests And Diseases

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Länkäran, Azerbaijan: tea plantation

Campbell Ronald Harler

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

LEARN MORE in these related Britannica articles:

India: Economic policy and development

China: Economic development

…rights to the trade in tea and silk.…

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Alternative Titles: Dicotyledones, Magnoliopsida, dicot

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