A small evergreen shrub that is usually pruned to a 4ft sized bush to facilitate easy harvest of the leaves.

Like other Camellia species, Tea plants like an acid soil and will grow in sun or part shade. They can also be grown indoors. Tea plants bloom in the fall and have beautiful, lightly scented, white flowers with yellow centers.

To harvest, pluck 2 leaves from the end of each growing tip at weekly intervals.

For Green Tea: roast the leaves at a low heat for several hours to stop fermentation before storage or making into tea.

For Black Tea: the leaves are wilted, crushed, fermented and then dried.