90 
NAT. ORDER. — THEACEiE. 
guishing the Bohea and Green Tea trees by the number of their 
petals, which, even in this country, have been found to vary from 
three to nine ; yet this circumstance, though it proves the insuffi- 
ciency of the Linnaean characters, by no means determines the 
botanical identity of the Green and Bohea Teas ; and while the 
present narrow and jealous policy of the Chinese continues, many 
interesting particulars respecting the natural history of Tea must 
still remain unknown to us : hence, we feel unauthorized to add a 
specific name to the plate of the Tea-plant here annexed, which 
represents the variety in the Hort. Kev., or the Thea viridis of the 
London gardeners. 
The various Teas imported into Europe and the United 
States, are obtained both from the wild and cultivated plant. The 
manner of gathering and preparing the leaves, as practised in Ja- 
pan, is very fully described by Koempfer, and is, as far as our in- 
formation extends, conformable to the method used by the Chi- 
nese, 
The fiirst gathering of the Tea leaves, according to this 
author, commences about the last of February, when the leaves 
are young and expanded. The second collection is made about 
the beginning of April, and the third in June. The first collec- 
tion, which consists only of the fine, tender leaves, is most es- 
teemed, and is called Imperial Tea. The second is called Toots- 
yaa, or Chinese Tea, because it is infused and drank after the 
Chinese manner. The last, which is the coarsest and cheapest, is 
chiefly consumed by the lower class of people. Besides the three 
kinds of Tea here noticed, it may be observed, that by garbling, 
or sorting these, the varieties of Tea become still farther multi- 
plied. As many Tea-plants grow on cliffs, and places of difficult 
access, the Chinese Tea-gatherers are said to have occasional re- 
course to the assistance of monkeys, which are chased up the 
Tea trees, and so much irritated, that in their fury they bite off 
the branches, and throw them down in resentment ; the branches 
