Go Climb a Tea Tree

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Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

A tea tree, which is also popularly referred to as a ti tree, is used to refer to any related or even unrelated series of trees which grow the leaves that are made and used to produce tea. This grouping of trees may or may not carry the leaves from which traditional tea is even derived. However, they have all been termed as such because, at some point or another, people have used the leaves of the said trees for the tea-making process.

That is, individuals and groups have taken leaves from the tea tree and soaked them in water in order to make a tea-like product. Although there are numerous types included in the tea tree classification, for the sake of space, three will be discussed in this article as examples: the kanuka tree, the leptospermum tree and camellia sinensis, a true tea tree.

Kanuka

This tea tree which is found in New Zealand is really more like a shrub than a tree. This tea tree can grow very large and is abundant across the New Zealand landscape, and due to the beautiful little white flowers it contains, these tea trees also create a beautiful backdrop across much of the land.

Some liken the appearance of a series of kanuka trees to that of a snowy hillside. Although the leaves are often used for tea-making, this tea tree actually only produces an herbal tea product, so technically it is not a true tea-making tea tree.

Leptospermum

Like the kanuka tea tree, the leptospermum resembles more of a bush than an actual tree. Also similarly, this tea tree can be found in New Zealand. However it is most prevalent in Australia, and still yet similar to the kanuka tree, the leptospermum leaves generate an herbal tea and not the true tea type of green, white, black/red or oolong. In addition to using the leaves of this tea tree to make a tea-like product, natives have also long-used the flowers’ nectar to make honey.

Camellia Sinensis

The camellia sinensis is the one true tea tree from which all teas, black/red, green, oolong and white are originally plucked. It is based on the eventual oxidation process that determines the final product, but subtleties in flavor are also relevant to the region of each camellia sinensis tea tree. This tea tree is a native to Asian regions, but today they can be found and are cultivated all over the world. All that is needed is a bit of tropical weather in order to make the camellia sinensis grow.