Camellia assamica seed
LATIN NAME: CAMELLIA ASSAMICA
COMMON NAME: Assam Tea
In the warm, misty foothills at the foot of the high mountains, the Assam tea grows as a tall, evergreen tree with the very large, glossy, leathery leaves and the small, white, fragrant flowers in the leaf axils, the round, woody capsules holding the large, oily seeds. The plant grows a narrow, conical crown, growing to fifteen metres. Full sun brings out its best, in deep, fertile ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The Assam tea occupies a celebrated place in the studies of the origin of the tea plant, its large leaves keeping it in view in the work on the wild tea trees of the misty foothills and the genetic resources of the tea crop. The research looks at the way the large leaves carry the harvest, the woody capsules shed the oily seeds, and the seed biology of the short-lived, oil-rich seeds.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
In the warm garden and the plantation, the Assam tea carries the very large, glossy leaves that have given the world the strong, malty teas of the highlands, its wild ancestors still growing in the misty foothills. The tall tea tree shades the plantation, and the tree makes the fine crop plant, the genetic treasure and the tree of the warm, sheltered garden. It is a plant for the sheltered, shaded, deep and acid place.
To grow the Assam Tea from seed, sow the round seeds at once, fresh from the split capsules, on leafy soil.
Sow the round seeds at once, fresh from the split capsules, on leafy soil, and keep the young tea plants in the shaded, sheltered spot. The large leaves carry the harvest.
LATIN NAME: Camellia sinensis var. assamica
COMMON NAME: Assam Tea, Indian Tea, Tea Plant
The Assam tea plant is one of the great plants of the world, and its leaves have been made into tea for a very long time. It grows into an upright, leafy clump, reaching thirty to sixty centimetres. It is one of the two great varieties of the tea plant, native to the highlands of the Hengduan-Purvanchal region between southwestern China, northern Myanmar and the eastern Himalaya, and it is the basis of the great tea gardens of Assam, prized for its bold, malty black tea.
The Assam tea plant belongs to the tea family, Theaceae, and it is a variety of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, native to the highlands between southwestern China, northern Myanmar and the eastern Himalaya. It is grown for its leaves, which are made into tea, and it is the basis of the tea industry of Assam and of much of India.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The Assam tea plant has a genuine and distinguished place in both agricultural and food science research. It has been studied extensively in the science of tea, since it is one of the two great varieties of the tea plant, and researchers have examined its growth, its cultivation, its yields and the making of its distinctive bold, malty black tea, while its genetics and its relationships with the Chinese tea plant have been studied, making it of interest in the breeding and improvement of tea. The plant has also been studied in chemistry and in the research on health, since the leaves are rich in the compounds that give tea its character, including the caffeine, the amino acids and the polyphenols, and researchers have examined these compounds and their potential benefits, which has made tea one of the most studied of all the worlds drinks. The species has also been studied in the research on the history of the crop, since tea has been carried around the world. For a plant of such worldwide importance, the Assam tea plant has an exceptionally rich record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Ecologically, the Assam tea plant is a generous plant of the warm, wet highlands. Its white flowers feed bees and other insects, and its glossy, leafy crown gives shelter, while it grows in the forests and the tea gardens of the eastern Himalaya.
Its economic value is enormous. It is the basis of the great tea industry of Assam and of much of India, and its leaves are made into bold, malty black tea that is drunk around the world, while tea as a whole is one of the most valuable crops and drinks of the world. For a grower, the Assam tea plant is a valuable and rewarding plant, and for a gardener it brings glossy evergreen leaves and fragrant white flowers, and the quiet pleasure of growing your own tea. The seeds are easy — sow them in a pot of moist, acidic compost in spring, keep them in a warm, shaded, humid spot and water them gently, and theyll sprout within a few weeks, growing on into a handsome evergreen shrub.
Camelia Assamica is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. It is of the genus Camelia of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. Two major varieties are grown: Camelia sinensis var. sinensis for Chinese teas, and Camellia sinensis var. assamica for Indian Assam teas. White tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong, pu-erh tea and black tea are all harvested from one or the other, but are processed differently to attain varying levels of oxidation. The leaves have been used in traditional Chinese medicine and other medical systems to treat asthma (functioning as a bronchodilator), angina pectoris, peripheral vascular disease, and coronary artery disease.