''Camellia taliensis'' (also known as Yunnan large leaf varietal tea, wild tea, Dali tea, Yunnan broad tea, and others; 大理茶) is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of evergreen

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

. It is of the genus ''

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controversy ...

'' of flowering plants in the family

Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genus, genera ...

. ''C. taliensis'' is an important wild relative to the cultivated tea plant ''

Camellia sinensis ''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the popular beverage, tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (not to ...

.'' It also belongs to the same

section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sign ...

''Thea'' as ''C. sinensis.'' It is an endangered species due to human caused fragmentation of the plant's natural habitat and from overpicking of the leaves for the tea market.

Nomenclature and taxonomy

Description

''Camellia talensis'' has five

locule A locule (plural locules) or loculus (plural loculi) (meaning "little place" in Latin) is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism (animal, plant, or fungus). In angiosperms (flowering plants), the term ''locule'' usu ...

s per

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

while in comparison ''C. sinensis'' has three locules per ovary. It grows primarily in the southwestern portion of

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

province in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and in neighboring areas in Thailand and northern Myanmar. ''C. taliensis'' has larger leaves than ''C. sinensis'' var. ''sinensis'' closer to the size of ''C. sinensis'' var. ''assamica.'' And, in several chemical composition and morphological comparisons, ''C. taliensis'' is also closer to ''C. sinensis'' var. '' assamica'' than to ''C. sinensis'' var. ''sinensis.'' However, the closer similarity may also be due to human selection (which causes reduction in genetic diversity) as ''C. sinensis'' var. ''assamica'' is the tea variety traditionally cultivated in Yunnan. Like ''C. sinensis, C. taliensis'' contains both

theanine Theanine , also known as L-γ-glutamylethylamide and ''N''5-ethyl-L-glutamine, is an amino acid analogue of the proteinogenic amino acids L-glutamate and L-glutamine and is found primarily in particular plant and fungal species. It was disco ...

and

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...

. ''C. talensis'' can be easily crossed with ''C. sinensis,'' and the resulting crossbred plants are intermediate between species both morphologically and chemically indicating true hybrids.

Cultivation

''Camellia taliensis'' is locally used to make

white tea White tea may refer to one of several styles of tea which generally feature young or minimally processed leaves of the ''Camellia sinensis'' plant. Currently there is no generally accepted definition of white tea and very little international ...

black tea Black tea, also translated to red tea in various East Asian languages, is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from ...

, and

pu'er tea ''Pu'er'' or ''pu-erh'' is a variety of fermented tea traditionally produced in Yunnan Province, China. In the context of traditional Chinese tea production terminology, fermentation refers to microbial fermentation (called 'wet piling'), and ...

.Liu ''et al.'' (2012) Yue Guang Bai (月光白 "Moonlight White") is a white tea made from the plant. Yunnan pu-erh tea made from ''C. taliensis'' can command a much higher price than pu'er made from the more common ''C. sinensis.''

References

* Chen, Jin, Pingsheng Wang, Yongmei Xia, Mei Xu & Shengji Pei. 2005. Genetic diversity and differentiation of ''Camellia sinensis'' L. (cultivated tea) and its wild relatives in Yunnan province of China, revealed by morphology, biochemistry and allozyme studies. ''Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 52'' (1), 41–52. * Liu, Yang, Shi-xiong Yang, Peng-zhang Ji & Li-zhi. 2012. Phylogeography of ''Camellia taliensis'' (Theaceae) inferred from chloroplast and nuclear DNA: Insights into evolutionary history and conservation. ''BMC Evolutionary Biology, 12.'' * Takeda, Yoshiyuki. 1990. Cross compatibility of tea (Camellia sinensis) and its allied species in the genus Camellia. ''Japan Agricultural Research Quarterly, 24'', 111–116. ;Notes

External links

* US National Plant Germplasm System
''Camellia taliensis'' (W. W. Sm.) Melch.
Tea taliensis {{Theaceae-stub