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A TEXT-BOOK OP BOTANY 



Lemons also are cultivated in Florida and California; 

 but they are not so hardy as the orange, and hence their 

 cultivation is more restricted. The chief foreign sup- 

 ply comes from Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The lemon 

 is a variety of the citron (Citrus medico); and another 

 variety is the lime, which furnishes the commercial lime- 

 juice. 



(5) TEA. The tea plant is a shrub native to sub- 

 tropical Asia, and its dried leaves are one of the most im- 

 portant articles of com- 

 merce (Fig. 288). It has 

 been cultivated in China 

 and Japan for many cen- 

 turies, and in the last cen- 

 tury extensive plantations 

 were established also in 

 India, Java, and Ceylon. 

 There are three distinct 

 pickings in a season; 

 some of the young leaves 

 are picked in April for 

 a fine quality of tea 

 (young hyson) which can- 

 not stand shipping to a 

 distance; the ordinary 

 picking for the general 

 market begins in May; 

 and later there is a third 

 picking, which makes a low-grade tea. Different qualities 

 and colors are produced by the different treatment of the 

 same leaves, the numerous varieties being either green tea, 

 in which the leaves are roasted quickly, or black tea, in 

 which they are dried slowly until they are almost black. 

 Outside of oriental nations the chief tea drinkers are the 

 Russians, the British, and the Dutch. 



FIG. 288. Flowering branch of the tea 

 plant. After BAILLON. 



