CLASSIFICATION OF ANGIOSPERMS. 



617 



partly epiphytic, and have dimorphic leaves, the smaller ones being 

 pitcher-like. The plant which is cultivated in greenhouses, M arc- 

 gravia umbellata, is used in the Antilles in medicine. 



c. THEACE^E OR TEA FAMILY. The plants are shrubs 

 or trees with alternate, evergreen leaves, and perfect, regular 



FIG. 339- Picking tea on a plantation in Japan, the wall at the left probably being 

 the ruins of an ancient temple. While the plant ordinarily is a shrub, it is kept trimmed 

 and is a bush from 2 to 5 feet high. The plants begin to bear in the third year, and continue 

 to yield a commercial article from 3 to 7 years thereafter. The number of crops per year 

 is determined by the geographical location. In the tropical fields of Ceylon, India, and 

 Japan lea,ves are picked frequently, while in northern Japan they secure only one crop a 

 year. Reproduced by permission of The Philadelphia Commercial Museum. 



flowers with numerous stamens, occurring one or more in the 

 axils of the leaves. The fruit is a 3- to 5-locular, dehiscent 

 capsule. The most important member of this family is Thea 

 sinensis, the two varieties viridis and Bohea furnishing the leaves 

 known as TEA. The Tea tree is indigenous to Eastern Asia, and is 

 now extensively cultivated in China, Japan, India, Java, Brazil, 

 Sicily, Portugal and France, and to some extent in the Southern 

 United States (Figs. 338, 339). 



