360 



PRACTICAL BOTANY 



world. The flowers spring from the trunk and older branches, 

 and mature into juicy, many-seeded fruits, from which (after 

 a fermenting process) the seeds are extracted, roasted, and 

 ground. The family to which the cacao tree belongs is a trop- 

 ical one, somewhat related to the familiar Mallow family. 



Tea is made from the leaves of a shrub of the Tea family 

 (Fig. 296), which consists of tropical and sub-tropical plants. 



FIG. 296. An American-grown tea bush, from Darjiling seed 

 (northern India) 



The bush is four or five years old, and has been plucked for the tips of the twigs, 



for high-grade tea. Photograph furnished by the Bureau of Plant Industry, 



United States Department of Agriculture 



The tea plant is thought to occur in a wild state in Assam, 

 eastern India, and has certainly been cultivated for ages in 

 China and the East Indies. The tea of commerce is made 

 by drying the leaves of the shrub, allowing them during the 

 process to undergo more or less fermentation. 



Medicinal and other products. Opium and morphia (which is 

 derived from opium) are obtained from capsules of the opium 

 poppy. Cocaine is made from the leaves of a Peruvian shrub, 



