THEA. : ORD. XXXIX. Tricocce. 643 
and that the different flavour and appearance of Teas depend upon 
the nature of the soil, the culture, and method of preparing the 
leaves 
This opinion, which is founded on the sportive tendency of the 
flowers of the Tea plant, clearly shows the fallacy of distinguishing 
the bohea and green Tea trees by the number of their petals, 
which even in this country have been found*to vary from three to 
nine; yet this circumstance, though it proves the insufficiency of 
the Linnean characters, by no means determines the botanical 
identity of the green and bohea Teas; and while the present 
narrow and Sealed policy of the Chinese continues, many in- 
teresting particulars respecting the natural history°of Tea must 
still remain unknown to Europeans: hence I have thought myself 
unauthorized to add a specific name to the plate of the Tea plant 
here annexed, * which represents the variety gin the Hort. Kew. 
or the Thea viridis of the London gardeners. 
The various Teas imported into Europe are obtained both from 
the wild and cultivated plant. The manner of gathering and pre- 
paring the leaves, as practiced in Japan, is very fully described by 
Kempfer, and is, as far as our information extends, vetoenmiae to 
the method used is the sd ee 
Dla cathe ’ ake : to this Safhcé 
commences abOUr ee latter end of Beticaanp: Shi the leaves are 
young and unexpanded. The second collection is made about the 
beginning of April, and the third in June. The first collection, 
which consists only of the fine tender leaves, is most esteemed, and 
is called Imperial Tea. The second is called Tootsjaa, or Chinese 
Tea, because it is infused and drunk after the Chinese manner. 
The last, which is the coarsest and cheapest, is chiefly consumed by 
the lower class of people. Besides the three kinds of Tea here 
noticed, it may be observed, that by garbling or sorting these, 
the varieties of Tea become still farther multiplied, As many Tea 
plants grow on cliffs and places of difficult access, the Chinese 
* Taken from the plant now in flower in the stove of John Liptrap, Esq. 
