BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN 
Lectures for School Classes 
In Nature Study, Geography, and Botany 
Do not lose this Syllabus. Take it home to study. Paste it in your notebook 
SYLLABUS No. 3 
_ TEA 
The ae and tender twigs of the tea plant, Camellia Thea. There 
are two varieties: viridis, the chief source of green tea; and bohea, 
from nea black tea is derived. The tea plant is related to the flower- 
ing plant Camellia, and to the violets. 
Description of Plant: 
Camellia Thea is a tree from 20 to 30 feet high: under cultivation it 
is pruned to a shrub of from 3 to 6 feet in height. e flowers look 
a little like apple blossoms, are fragrant and borne in the axils of the 
leaves. Each flower usually produces three seeds, which are about the - 
ze of a hazel nut, spherical, hard, dark ee to black in color. The 
He are from two to six inches toe and are evergreen. 
Tea Countries: 
The big six are the following: China, India, Ceylon, Java, Japan, and 
Formosa. 
Kinds of Tea: 
Black or fermented (bohea): green or unfermented (viridis). 
Japan produces only green tea 
China produces both green and black tea. 
Ceylon, India, and Java produce largely black tea. 
Formosa produces a semi-fermented tea (Oolong). 
Culture: 
e tea plant loves the mountains. It requires a light, loamy ce 
The plant is raised from seed outdoors in a seed bed or nursery. V 
the plants are a year old they are transplanted in groups of from a 
to six plants to rows about four feet apart. The plant yields its first 
crop at the end of its third year, and thereafter yields three or four 
crops annually. 
