Lu Cha

Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, is an evergreen shrub or small tree of the family Theaceae native to a broad region of southern China, northeastern India, Myanmar and northern Indochina, where it grows naturally as an understorey tree up to 10-15 m tall but is maintained at 1-1.5 m in cultivation by regular plucking. The alternate, leathery, elliptic to oblanceolate leaves are 4-15 cm long with finely serrate margins, dark glossy green above and lighter beneath, the young shoots silvery-pubescent. Solitary or paired axillary flowers about 2.5-4 cm across have five to seven white obovate petals surrounding numerous yellow stamens, and are followed by woody three-celled capsules containing one to three rounded brown seeds. For green tea (Lu Cha) the freshly plucked terminal shoots are heat-fixed (pan-fired or steamed) to inactivate polyphenol oxidase and then rolled and dried.