Theaceae (), the tea family, is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important

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 ...

plant, and the ornamental

camellias ''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 controver ...

. It can be described as having from seven to 40

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

, depending on the source and the method of circumscription used. The family Ternstroemiaceae has been included within Theaceae;Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ''Vascular Plant Families and Genera''
Theaceae
Watson, L., & Dallwitz, M. J. (1992 onwards). ''The families of flowering plants''

/ref> however, the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...

of 2009 places it instead in

Pentaphylacaceae The Pentaphylacaceae are a small family of plants within the order Ericales. In the APG III system of 2009, it includes the former family Ternstroemiaceae. Genera In 2014, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website included 14 genera in the family: Plant ...

. Most but not all species are

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to China and East Asia.

Family traits

Plants in this family are characterized by simple leaves that are alternate spiral to distichial, serrated, and usually glossy. Most of the genera have

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

foliage, but '' Stewartia'' and ''

Franklinia ''Franklinia'' is a monotypic genus in the tea family, Theaceae. The sole species in this genus is a flowering tree, ''Franklinia alatamaha'', commonly called the Franklin tree, and native to the Altamaha River valley in Georgia in the southeast ...

'' are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. The toothed margins are generally associated with a characteristic Theoid leaf tooth, which is crowned by a glandular, deciduous tip. The flowers in this family are usually pink or white and large and showy, often with a strong scent. The calyx consists of five or more sepals, which are often persistent in the fruiting stage, and the corolla is five-merous, rarely numerous. Plants in Theaceae are multistaminate, usually with 20-100+ stamen either free or adnate to the base of the corolla, and are also distinctive because of the presence of pseudopollen. The pseudopollen is produced from connective cells, and has either rib-like or circular thickenings. The ovary is often hairy and narrows gradually into the style, which may be branched or cleft. The carpels are typically opposite from the petals, or the sepals in the case of ''

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 ...

''. The fruits are

loculicidal Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that o ...

capsules, indehiscent

baccate In botany, a berry is a fleshy fruit without a stone (pit) produced from a single flower containing one ovary. Berries so defined include grapes, currants, and tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, eggplants (aubergines) and bananas, but exclude c ...

fruits or sometimes

pome In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Well-known pomes include the apple, pear, and quince. Etymology The word ''pome'' entered English in the late 14th century, and re ...

-like. The seeds are few and sometimes winged, or in some genera covered by fleshy tissue or unwinged and nude.

Genera

, the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Website The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (or APweb) is a website dedicated to research on angiosperm phylogeny and taxonomy. The site is hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden website and maintained by researchers, Peter F. Stevens and Hilary M. Davis ...

accepts the following genera: *''

Apterosperma ''Apterosperma'' is a monotypic taxon, monotypic genus of plants in the family Theaceae. The sole species is ''Apterosperma oblata'', which is Endemism, endemic to China and is threatened by habitat loss. References

Theaceae Monotypic Er ...

'' *''

'' , including ''Piquetia'' (Pierre) H.Hallier, ''Thea'' L., ''Yunnanea'' Hu *'' Dankia'' *''

'' *'' Gordonia'' , including ''Laplacea'' * ''

Polyspora Theaceae (), the tea family, is a 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 genera, depending on the sourc ...

'' G.Don *''

Pyrenaria ''Pyrenaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It ca ...

'' , including ''Dubardella'' H.J.Lam, ''Glyptocarpa'' Hu, ''Parapyrenaria'' H.T.Chang, ''Sinopyrenaria'' Hu, ''Tutcheria'' Dunn *''

Schima ''Schima'' is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the tea family, Theaceae. The genus inhabits warm temperate to subtropical climates across southern and southeastern Asia, from the eastern Himalaya of Nepal and eastern India across Indochin ...

'' *'' Stewartia'' , including ''Hartia'' Dunn The fossil '' Pentapetalum trifasciculandricus'', about 91 million years old, may belong to the Theaceae or the Pentaphylacaceae.

Distribution

Members of the family are found in Southeast Asia and Malesia, tropical South America and the Southeast United States. Three genera (''

'', '' Gordonia'' and '' Stewartia'') have species native to the Southeast United States, with ''Franklinia'' being

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

there, and under some interpretations, also ''Gordonia'' with the Asian species formerly included in that genus being transferred to ''Polyspora''.''Flora of China'
"Theaceae (draft)"
/ref>

Biochemistry

There is distinctive chemistry within the family Theaceae. Sometimes, single crystals of calcium oxalate are present in Theaceous plants.

Ellagic acid Ellagic acid is a polyphenol found in numerous fruits and vegetables. It is the dilactone of hexahydroxydiphenic acid. Name The name comes from the French term ''acide ellagique'', from the word ''galle'' spelled backwards because it can be ob ...

and common polyphenols including flavonols, flavones and proanthocyanins are widely distributed throughout the family.

Gallic acid Gallic acid (also known as 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) is a trihydroxybenzoic acid with the formula C6 H2( OH)3CO2H. It is classified as a phenolic acid. It is found in gallnuts, sumac, witch hazel, tea leaves, oak bark, and other plants. It i ...

and

catechin Catechin is a flavan-3-ol, a type of secondary metabolite providing antioxidant roles in plants. It belongs to the subgroup of polyphenols called flavonoids. The name of the catechin chemical family derives from ''catechu'', which is the tannic ...

s only occur in ''Camellia'' sect. ''Thea (C. sinensis, C. taliensis'' and ''C. irrawadiensis''.) Caffeine and its precursors theobromine and theophylline are only found in sect. ''Thea'' and are not found in other species of ''Camellia'' or other Theaceae. Caffeine content in the tea bush makes up 2.5-4% of the leaf's dry weight, and this high content of catechins and caffeine in the tea bush is the result of

artificial selection Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

by humans for these characters. Triterpenes and their glycosides (saponins) are found widely throughout the family in the seeds, leaves, wood and bark. Plants in this family are also known to accumulate aluminum and fluoride.

Economic importance

The best known

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

is ''

'', which includes the plant whose leaves are used to produce

(''Camellia sinensis''). In parts of Asia, other species are used as a beverage, including ''C. taliensis, C. grandibractiata, C. kwangsiensis, C. gymnogyna, C. crassicolumna, C. tachangensis, C. ptilophylla'', and ''C. irrawadiensis''. Several

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 ...

are grown widely as ornamentals for their flowers and handsome foliage.

References

{{Authority control Ericales families