| Camellia taliensis | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Theaceae |
| Genus: | Camellia |
| Species: | C. taliensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Camellia taliensis (W.W.Sm.) Melch. | |
Camellia taliensis (also known asYunnan large leaf varietal tea,wild tea,Dali tea,Yunnan broad tea, Fried egg plant and others; 大理茶) is a smallspecies of evergreenshrub whoseleaves and leaf buds are used to producetea.
It is of the genusCamellia of flowering plants in the familyTheaceae.
C. taliensis is an important wild relative to the cultivated tea plantCamellia sinensis. It also belongs to the samesectionThea asC. sinensis.
The species is cultivated on many farms inYunnan province inChina and not considered endangered. However, its wild populations are shrinking due to human causedfragmentation of the plant's natural habitat and from theexcessive harvesting of the leaves for the tea market.[2]
'C. taliensis' comes from the old name ofDali, Tali, where the plant is from. The plant is also known as Wild tea as it grows wild in forests, Dali tea again after the town, and Fried egg plant because of the morphology of the flower.
Camellia taliensis can grow from 2-8m tall[3] and has fivelocules perovary whileC. sinensis has three.C. taliensis leaves are abaxially yellow-green and adaxially dark- or yellow-green, and are shiny on both surfaces.[4] The plant'sseeds are brown.[4] The flowers are creamy or white with numerous stamens, by chance creating the appearance of a fried egg.[5]
It grows primarily in the southwestern section of Yunnan and in neighbouring areas in Thailand and northern Myanmar.
C. taliensis has larger leaves thanC. sinensis var.sinensis closer to the size ofC. sinensis var.assamica. In several chemical composition and morphological comparisons,C. taliensis is also closer toC. sinensis var.assamica than toC. sinensis var.sinensis. However, the closer similarity may also be due to human selection (which causes reduction in genetic diversity) asC. sinensis var.assamica is the tea variety traditionally cultivated in Yunnan.
LikeC. sinensis,C. taliensis contains boththeanine andcaffeine.
C. talensis can be easilycrossed withC. sinensis, and the resulting crossbred plants are intermediate between species both morphologically and chemically indicating true hybrids.
The plant was originally used to make tea by mushroom gatherers who took young leaf buds and, with the help of local expertise, they used the dry buds to make black tea "unlike any others".[6]
C. taliensis is seasonally gathered in early spring when new leaves are produced.[6]
C. taliensis is locally used to makewhite tea,black tea andpu'er tea.[6][7][8]
Yue Guang Bai (月光白 "Moonlight White") is a white tea made from the plant.
Yunnan pu-erh tea made fromC. taliensis can command a much higher price than pu'er made from the more commonC. sinensis.
