Tea tree

Characteristics

Tea tree

Tea tree plants are usually evergreen and they grow well in subtropical to tropical climates. The best temperatures to grow tea tress are 12-13℃ and the precipitation is minimum 1,300㎜ in average per year. The trees prefer slightly alkaline soil. Hadong Tea Tress are the native species in Sacheon area, which can be traced back to Chinese small-leaved variety about 1200 years ago.

Structure Description

Leaves

tea tree leaves are thick and glossy green with short petiolates (leaf stalk) and 30 spikes at the edges.

Flowers

inflorescence occurs usually at the extreme end of newly grown branch of the current year or between branches and leaves with 1-3 blossoms. A blossom of flower has 180-240 stamens and 5 calyxes. They begin to bloom in June and continue until the end of September or October. Flower buds grow past this point, but due to lower temperatures they rarely bloom.

Pollination and Fructification

the ovaries are 2-4 in average a blossom and it takes 13 days to see the pollination result. Unpollinated flowers stop growing while pollinated ones stop growing in winder only temporarily and resume growth in spring, reach their peak state in summer and are ready to be picked up in mid-October to November. The pollination rates are40-60% for cross-pollination and 2-3% for self-pollination.

  • Number of leaves per liter in a plant : 450~800
  • Average weight of leaves per liter in a plant : 620~730g

Roots

tea tree roots grow straight down into the soil and the main root can reach up to 2m. Around at 15-18㎝ into the soil, many rootlets grow. Dominant tree's main roots grow straightforward and deep, while grafted one's ones stretched rather shallow.



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