112 AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 



cording to the Linnaean system, to CI. 13, Order I, almost odour- 

 less, regular, growing singly or in groups of two or three at the 

 base of leaves, short-stemmed. Calyx with five or six leaves, 

 corona regular, circular, i to ij cm. in diameter, white or pink, 

 with six petals, of which the outer two are somewhat smaller than 

 the four others. Anthers numerous, spread out in wheel-shape ; 

 style split in three ; germ with three embryos. The fruit a round, 

 three-chambered, three-seeded capsule, looking as if it consisted of 

 three balls partly pressed into one another, growing to one side. 

 The oily seeds, enclosed by a hard shell, are spherical, as large as a 

 cherry-stone and the colour of hazel-nuts {a). Blossom-time and 

 harvest are from September to December, so that the seeds require 

 nearly a whole year to develop, and frosts, as a rule, destroy the 

 later blossoms in the colder tea-districts of Japan, China, and the 

 regions of the Himalayas. 



Of the sub-species, TJiea viridis, L., produces a quick-growing 

 bush, which is hardier than Th. Bohea, L. Its leaves are lanceolate, 

 and often reach a length from 8 to 12 cm., with a breadth one-third 

 as great. They have coarse, irregularly indented edges, often 

 somewhat undulating, thin, and of a light-green colour in hot- 

 houses. The blossoms, which are large, grow mostly singly. 



Thea Bohea remains much smaller. (Though there are very 

 large specimens of it, too, in the hothouses of botanical gardens ; 

 thus, for example, that of St Petersburg, until within a few years, 

 could show trees of Thea viridis, and also of TJiea Bohea, which 

 were about sixty years old and 5 m. high, with a stem-diameter of 

 12 to 15 cm.) It is more sensitive to cold. Its branches and twigs 

 are stiff, like its leaves, which are of an elongated elliptical shape, 

 scarcely half as long as those of Thea viridis, usually 3 to 5 cm. 

 long, and half as broad, Smooth, and regularly serrated. The 

 bushes bloom luxuriantly, often having two or three blossoms at 

 the base of each leaf. 



Thea assainica Masters is, when cultivated, a beautiful little tree, 

 ij m. high. Compared with the Chinese varieties its leaves are 

 very large, elliptically pointed, 10 to 15 cm. long and half as broad, 

 smooth, and strongly veined. A hybrid between the Assam plant 

 and the Chinese tea-plant, which is now much grown in India, 

 combines the richness in leaf-production and the strength in in- 

 fusion of the Indian type with the compactness, hardiness, and 

 pleasant aroma of the Chinese. 



According to Fortune, Bohea is raised principally in the South 

 of China, in the province of Kuang-tung, to make black tea ; while 

 Thea viridis, furnishes the green tea of the country south of the 

 Yang-tse-kiang, and is shipped chiefly by way of Shanghai and 

 Ningpo. To his amazement he found, however, that the so-called 

 " Bohea Hills " of the great tea province Fukien, which yields 

 black tea almost exclusively, were planted all over with Thea 

 viridis, and soon became convinced that the colour of the tea of 



