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

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of evergreen

shrub A shrub or 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 by their multiple ...

whose

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

and leaf buds are used to produce tea. It is of the genus ''

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

'' 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 can be described as having from seven to 40 genera, depending on the sour ...

. ''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, leaf buds, and stems can be used to produce tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (unrelated to ''Me ...

''. It also belongs to the same section ''Thea'' as ''C. sinensis''. The species is cultivated on many farms in

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

province in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and not considered endangered. However, its wild populations are shrinking due to human caused fragmentation of the plant's natural habitat and from the excessive harvesting of the leaves for the tea market.

Nomenclature and taxonomy

C. taliensis''' comes from the old name of Dali, 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.

Description

''Camellia taliensis'' can grow from 2-8m tall and has five

locule A locule (: locules) or loculus (; : loculi) 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'' usually refers to a chamber within an ovary ...

s per

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

while ''C. sinensis'' has three. ''C. taliensis'' leaves are abaxially yellow-green and adaxially dark- or yellow-green, and are shiny on both surfaces. The plant's seeds are brown. The flowers are creamy or white with numerous stamens, by chance creating the appearance of a fried egg. It grows primarily in the southwestern section of Yunnan and in neighbouring 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''. 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-theanine, L-gamma-glutamylethylamide, or ''N''5-ethyl-L-glutamine, is a non-proteinogenic amino acid similar to the proteinogenic amino acids glutamic acid, L-glutamate and glutamine, L-glutamine. It is produced by ce ...

and

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class and is the most commonly consumed Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness pr ...

. ''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

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". ''C. taliensis'' is seasonally gathered in early spring when new leaves are produced. ''C. 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 literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more tea processing, oxidized than oolong, yellow tea, yellow, white tea, white, and green tea, green teas. Black tea is generally st ...

and

pu'er tea ''Pu'er'' or ''pu-erh'' is a variety of fermented tea traditionally produced in Yunnan Province, China. Pu- erh tea is made from the leaves of the Yunnan tea plant ''Camellia sinensis var. assamica'', which is a specific variety of tea plant t ...

. 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

Bibliography

* *

External links