Camellia

Do you look forward to your morning cuppa or afternoon tea? Then you may be surprised to know that you most likely have a tea plant in your garden or one growing very nearby in a neighbour’s garden. They can flower here in the UK as early as January, gracing our spring gardens with beautifully showy blooms in a range of reds, pinks and whites, the one pictured here is garden variety, Camellia Japonica, however, it is very closely related to a plant that we consume copious amounts of, yes tea is made from Camellia leaves, Camellia Sinensis a less assuming plant with its less showy single white flowers than the garden varieties.

Also, many people don’t realise that all varieties and types of tea, black, white, green, come from the same bush, they are just different stages of the drying and oxidation process.

Tea originates from China, where the earliest credible record of it being drunk medicinally dates back to the 3^rd Century AD, although it wasn’t introduced to Britain until the 17^th century, when it very quickly became a popular beverage, however it was very pricey, which created a lucrative smuggling industry, it was even more popular than ale at one point, which meant that taxes from ale had dropped, an important source of income to the government of the time, so they stepped in and taxed it! Thankfully over time the government dropped the tax, this along with the new tea plantations in India and better transportation, meant that tea became more readily available and affordable, meaning we can all enjoy our cup of tea, morning, afternoon or night time.