The
tea plant, an evergreen with small, white rose-like blooms that have
also been likened to apple blossoms, is indigenous to China, Tibet
and northern India.
A
King Tea tree judged to be over 1,700 years old is still growing in
the forested Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan province near the Burma
border. It is 108 feet (32 meters) tall, with the main trunk over a
yard in diameter. When left to grow uncared for, tea plants can
exceed 30 feet. To maintain a manageable height, tea growers prune
them down to two or three feet.
The
genus Camellia, to which the tea plant belongs, is a very old one
dating from the Tertiary period, which preceded the great ice ages.
The plant was able to survive because the Yunnan and Guizhou
plateaus were not affected by the glaciation.
