Camellia sinensis

Camellia sinensis
Camellia sinensis foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Theaceae
Genus:	Camellia
Species:	C. sinensis
Binomial name
Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze
Synonyms
Camellia angustifolia Hung T. Chang Camellia arborescens Hung T. Chang & F. L. Yu Camellia assamica (J. W. Masters) Hung T. Chang Camellia dehungensis Hung T. Chang & B. H. Chen Camellia dishiensis F. C. Zhang et al. Camellia longlingensis F. C. Zhang et al. Camellia multisepala Hung T. Chang & Y. J. Tang Camellia oleosa (Loureiro) Rehder Camellia parvisepala Hung T. Chang. Camellia parvisepaloides Hung T. Chang & H. S. Wang. Camellia polyneura Hung T. Chang & Camellia thea Link Camellia theifera Griffith Camellia waldeniae S. Y. Hu Thea assamica J. W. Masters Thea bohea L. Thea cantonensis Loureiro Thea chinensis Sims Thea cochinchinensis Loureiro Thea grandifolia Salisbury Thea olearia Loureiro ex Gomes Thea oleosa Loureiro Thea parvifolia Salisbury (1796), not Hayata (1913) Thea sinensis L. Thea viridis L. Theaphylla cantonensis (Loureiro) Rafinesque

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is most commonly consumed by infusing the leaves in hot water, forming one of the most popular beverages in the world, which is also called simply "tea". The only other way tea is commonly consumed is as pickled tea leaves or laphet, traditionally served as part of a salad with fried garlic, crispy lentils and sesame seeds.

Edible products

• Green tea, minimally oxidized dried leaves brewed in hot water
• Black tea, brewed with strongly oxidized leaves
• Oolong tea, intermediate between green tea and black tea
• White tea, like green tea but made from immature leaves / buds
• Laphet, fermented pickled tea leaves

Acknowledgements

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Camellia sinensis, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.