CHAP. XIX. TERNSTROMIACEA, THEA. 393 
camellias, with which genus they are united by various botanists. The 
leaves are large, shining, laurel-like, and the flowers white, axillary, pedi- 
celed, and sweet-scented. The culture may be considered the same as that 
of the camellia, but some of the species are less hardy. 
# 1. T.vi‘ripis LZ. The common, or green Tea. 
Identification. Lin- Sp., 735. ; Don’s Mill., 1. p. 577. 
Synonymes. T. Bohéa stricta Att. Hort. Kew., ed. 2. vol. 3. p. 303. ; TF. 
sinénsis Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 998.; S. chinénsis var. « viridis Dec. 
Prod., 1. p. 530.; Caméllia viridis Link, Enum., 2. p.73.; Thea 
cantonénsis Lour. Coch., p. 339. 
Engravings. Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 227.; Woodv. Med. Bot. Suppl., 116. 
t. 256.; Black. Herb., t. 351.; Letts. Mon., t. 1.; and our jig. 102, 
Spec. Char., $c. Leaves elliptic-oblong, serrated, 3 
times longer than broad. Flowers of 5 sepals and 
5—7 petals, axillary, solitary, erect. Fruit nodding, 7/77 
dehiscent. (Don’s Mill., i. p. 577.) An evergreen ¥ 
shrub, with light green laurel-like leaves, and large 
white fragrant flowers, which are produced from V7 
September till December. Introduced from China 
in 1768. Height from 6 ft. to 8 ft. 
# 2. 7. BoHEAL. The Bohea, or Black, Tea, 
Identification. Lin. Sp., 743. ; Don’s Mill., 1. p. 577. 
Synonymes. T. chinénsis 8 Bohéa Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 998.; Dec. Prod.,1. p. 530.’ 
Engravings. odd. Bot. Cab., 226.; Lwvis. Herb. Amer., t. 255.;  K f. A -, t. 606, ; Si 
ot., t. 998.; and our fig. 103. ‘ ? : cake Be ORS. Ree 
Spee. Char., Sc. Leaves elliptical-oblong, obtuse, crenated, twice as long as 
broad. Flowers of 5 sepals, and 5 petals, axillary, twin or ternary. (Don’s 
Mill., i. p. 577.) An evergreen shrub, with dark green leaves, much 
smaller than those of the preceding species ; and white flowers, also smaller, 
but fragrant. Introduced from China in 1780, and generally treated as a 
frame or green-house plant. 
History, Uses, §c. The genus Thea (forming the Thedcee 
of Mirbel, and included in the Camelliée of Jussieu and 
De Candolle) is almost exclusively confined to China, 
Japan, and some of the neighbouring islands; but, as the 
species are plants which have been cultivated for an un- 
known length of time, it is difficult to ascertain their native 
country. Of late, the Thea viridis has been discovered in 
Upper Assam through an extent of country of one month’s 
march, and within the East India Company’s territories, 
from Sadiya and Beesa to the Chinese frontier of the pro- 
vince of Yunnan, where the shrub is cultivated for the sake of its leaf. This 
discovery was made in 1826, by Mr. David Scott; and an account of it is 
given in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of India for January 1835, and in the 
Gardener’s Magazine, vol. xi. p.429. It appears that the inhabitants of these 
countries are in the habit of boiling the stalks and leaves, and then squeezing 
them into a ball, which they dry in the sun, and then retain for use. 
Much has been written on the plant which produces the tea of commerce. 
Dr. Lettsom, who wrote a pamphlet on the subject in 1772, asserts that all 
the different kinds of tea brought to Europe are the produce of Théa viridis, 
and that the whole difference in the qualities of teas depends, not on the 
a cage of plant, but on the soil and climate in which the plants are grown, 
the different ages and periods at which the leaves are gathered, and the dif- 
ferent modes of preparing and drying them. A green tea plant, he asserts, 
planted in the bohea tea country, will produce bohea tea; and a plant from 
the bohea tea country, planted in the green tea country, will produce green 
tea. Among all the different opinions that have been advanced on the sub- 
ject, this appears to us by far the most plausible. It is said, however, that 
Thea Bohea is cultivated in the southern provinces, as the Thea viridis is in 
