茶(原变种) cha (yuan bian zhong)

Thea sinensis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 515. 1753; Camellia arborescens Hung T. Chang & F. L. Yu; C. longlingensis F. C. Zhang et al.; C. oleosa (Loureiro) Rehder; C. sinensis f. formosensis Kitamura; C. sinensis f. macrophylla (Siebold) Kitamura; C. sinensis f. parvifolia (Miquel) Sealy; C. sinensis var. waldeniae (S. Y. Hu) Hung T. Chang; C. thea Link; C. waldeniae S. Y. Hu; T. bohea Linnaeus; T. cantonensis Loureiro; T. chinensis Sims; T. cochinchinensis Loureiro; T. grandifolia Salisbury; T. olearia Loureiro ex Gomes; T. oleosa Loureiro; T. parvifolia Salisbury (1796), not Hayata (1913); T. sinensis var. macrophylla Siebold; T. sinensis var. parvifolia Miquel; T. viridis Linnaeus; Theaphylla cantonensis (Loureiro) Rafinesque.

Leaf blade abaxially glabrous or sparsely pubescent only when young, apex bluntly acute. Sepals outside glabrous. Ovary densely white pubescent. Fl. Oct-Dec, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 30, 45, 60.

Evergreen broad-leaved forests, thickets; 100-2200 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, SE Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [NE India, S Japan, S Korea].

This taxon is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. Because of its extensive long-term cultivation, the original wild distribution in E Asia is obscure although certainly much more restricted than the current distribution.