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''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. It is of the genus ''Camellia'' () of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. Common names include "tea plant", "tea shrub", and "tea tree" (not to be confused with ''Melaleuca alternifolia'', the source of tea tree oil, or ''Leptospermum scoparium'', the New Zealand teatree). Two major varieties are grown: ''Camellia sinensis'' var. ''sinensis'' for Chinese teas, and ''Camellia sinensis'' var. ''assamica'' for Indian Assam teas.〔(ITIS Standard Report Page Camellia Sinensis ) retrieved 2009-03-28.〕 White tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong, pu-erh tea and black tea are all harvested from one or the other, but are processed differently to attain varying levels of oxidation. Kukicha (twig tea) is also harvested from ''Camellia sinensis'', but uses twigs and stems rather than leaves. ==Nomenclature and taxonomy== The name ''Camellia'' is taken from the Latinized name of Rev. Georg Kamel, SJ (1661–1706), a Moravian-born Jesuit lay brother, pharmacist, and missionary to the Philippines. Carl Linnaeus chose his name in 1753 for the genus to honor Kamel's contributions to botany〔.〕 (although Kamel did not discover or name this plant, or any ''Camellia'',〔.〕 and Linnaeus did not consider this plant a ''Camellia'' but a ''Thea''). Robert Sweet shifted all formerly ''Thea'' species to the ''Camellia'' genus in 1818.〔.〕 The name ''sinensis'' means ''from China'' in Latin. Four varieties of ''Camellia sinensis'' are recognized. Of these, ''C. sinensis'' var. ''sinensis'' and ''C. sinensis'' var. ''assamica'' (JW Masters) Kitamura are most commonly used for tea, and ''C. sinensis'' var. ''pubilimba'' Hung T. Chang and ''C. sinensis'' var. ''dehungensis'' (Hung T. Chang & BH Chen) TL Ming are sometimes used locally.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「camellia sinensis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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