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Strictly speaking, tea can only be made from the leaves of one single plant – the Camellia sinensis.

In every day language, most of us do however consider a lot of other infusions as teas as well, e.g. the so called herbal teas which are made from flowers, leaves, fruits, and sometimes even stems from a myriad of different plant species.

Camellia sinensis is an evergreen shrub native to South East Asia. We know this plant in its cultivated form and tea shrubs grown in tea fields are kept short since this make the harvest easier.

The plants will typically be allowed to reach a height of 4 to 6 feet (120 to 180 centimetres), but a wild tropical variety of the Camellia sinensis can actually grow up to 56 feet (17 meters) or more.

The tea plant will produce white fragrant flowers of roughly 1.5 inches (3.8 centimetres), but it is chiefly the young green leaves that are harvested and used in teas. The bloom during fall and the flowers are situated solitary in the axils of the leaves.

The tea plant appreciates well drained soil where the pH is neutral or somewhat acidic.

The soil should be rich in organic matter to provide the tea plant with sufficient amounts of nutrients.

The tea plant will do best when grown in even temperatures without any severe winters. It is usually cultivated in regions where the summers are wet and the winters dry.