34 CAMELLIA THEA 



Well-grown plants are very ornamental, and are common in 

 botanic gardens; the shrub was introduced in 1768. The flowers 

 are produced in autumn and winter, but rarely appear here in the 

 open air. 



Seemann in Trans. Linn. Soc., xxii, p. 349 ; PI. Brit. Ind., i, 

 p. 292; Lindl., PI. Med., p. 349. 



Part Used and Name. THEA, Tea; the dried leaves. To 

 distinguish it from other Teas it is also called China Tea. It is 

 not official in either the British, Indian, or United States' Pharma- 

 copoeia. 



Preparation and Kinds of Tea. There are two well-marked 

 kinds of Tea distinguished as Black and Green, of each of which 

 we have several commercial varieties. Thus, of Black Teas, the 

 best known sorts are, Congou, Souchong, Oolong, Pekoe, and 

 Caper ; and of Green Teas Hyson, Hyson Skin, Young Hyson, 

 Twankay, Imperial, and Gunpowder. Many teas are scented 

 with the flowers of different plants, as those of the orange, 

 rose, jasmine, sweet-scented olive, &c. The finest teas, some of 

 which sell for as much as 50s. per lb., are never forwarded to 

 this country, but are consumed by the wealthier classes in China 

 and Russia. It is not within our province to allude to all these 

 varieties of tea, but only to describe generally the differences 

 between black and green tea. 



Black and Green Tea. It was formerly supposed that black and 

 green tea were the produce of distinct plants, but Fortune, Ball, 

 and others, have proved that both kinds are prepared indiscrimi- 

 nately from the same plant, the differences between such teas 

 depending essentially upon their mode of preparation. Thus, 

 Green Tea is prepared as follows : first, the leaves are exposed 

 after they are gathered for from one to two hours to the atmo- 

 sphere, for the purpose of drying off any superfluous moisture ; 

 they are then put for four or five minutes into the roasting-pan, 

 which is heated below with a brisk wood fire, and during which 

 time they are rapidly moved about by the hands of the workmen. 



