90 NAT. ORDER. TIIEACEiE. 



guishing 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 insuffi- 

 ciency of the Linngean characters, by no means determines the 

 botanical identity of the Green and Bohea Teas ; and while the 

 present narrow and jealous policy of the Chinese continues, many 

 interesting particulars respecting the natural history of Tea must 

 still remain unknown to us : hence, we feel unauthorized to add a 

 specific name to the plate of the Tea-plant here annexed, which 

 represents the variety in the Hort. Kev., or the Thea viridis of the 

 London gardeners. 



The various Teas imported into Europe and the United 

 States, are obtained both from the wild and cultivated plant. The 

 manner of gathering and preparing the leaves, as practised in Ja- 

 pan, is very fully described by Kcjempfer, and is, as far as our in- 

 formation extends, conformable to the method used by the Chi- 

 nese. 



The first gathering of the Tea leaves, according to this 

 author, commences about the last of February, when the leaves 

 are young and expanded. The second collection is made about 

 the beginning of April, and the third in June. The first collec- 

 tion, which consists only of the fine, tender leaves, is most es- 

 teemed, and is called Imperial Tea. The second is called Toots- 

 yaa, or Chinese Tea, because it is infused and drank 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 multi- 

 plied. As many Tea-plants grow on cliffs, and places of difficult 

 access, the Chinese Tea-gatherers are said to have occasional re- 

 course to the assistance of monkeys, which are chased up the 

 Tea trees, and so much irritated, that in their fury they bite off 

 the branches, and throw them down in resentment ; the branches 



