Linxian Tea

Linxian Tea

　　Linxian Tea

　　Tea belongs to the dicotyledonous plants, comprising about 30 genera and 500 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. China has 14 genera and 397 species, mainly produced in areas south of the Yangtze River. The leaves are alternate, simple, leathery, and lack stipules. Flowers are usually bisexual, occasionally unisexual, solitary or clustered in a few numbers, axillary or terminal. There are 5–7 sepals, arranged in an imbricate fashion; petals usually number 5, occasionally 4 to many, also arranged in an imbricate fashion. Stamens are very numerous, though sometimes fewer, and may be separate or somewhat fused. The ovary is superior, occasionally inferior, with 2–10 locules, each containing 2 or more ovules. The fruit is a capsule, or indehiscent and drupe-like. What we commonly refer to as tea is a beverage made from the processed leaves of the tea plant, which can be directly steeped with boiling water for drinking.