Types of Tea Plants: Varieties & Cultivars Explained

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With a millennial history, tea is something we can't do without. Yet, as the world of tea is vast, it's easy to be overwhelmed by all the kinds of tea plants that exist. In this blog post, we explain some of the most important tea concepts and the different tea varieties and cultivars.
Camellia sinensis: the tea plant

The scientific name Camellia Sinensis refers to the classic tea plant, tea bush, or tea tree. However, it shouldn't be confused with the 'tea tree' plant used to produce tea tree oil, Melaleuca Alternifolia.
The evergreen tea plant can grow as a bush or tree and has white-yellow flowers. The plant is native to East, South, and Southeast Asia but is cultivated worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions. All teas, whether green, black, white, oolong, dark, yellow teas-are made of this extraordinary plant.
Numerous premium teas are cultivated at elevated altitudes, reaching up to 1500 meters (5,000 ft), since the plants develop slower and gain enhanced flavour. In the Chinese Yunnan region, there are forests with tea trees over a century old. However, the plant is most commonly cultivated in the form of a bush. Farmers commonly trim tea plants in shrubs as they are easy to harvest both manually and mechanically, while optimizing the tea garden space, allowing for cultivating more plants.

Tea plant varieties
Naturally, there are three varieties (or incorrectly varietals) of Camellia sinensis:
- Camellia sinensis var. sinensis: This variety, primarily cultivated in China, is used mainly to produce green, white and several Chinese black teas. Features smaller, delicate leaves and demonstrates a remarkable tolerance for cold weather. It thrives in a range of environmental conditions, enduring cold winters while blooming in the hot, humid summer months.
- Camellia sinensis var. assamica: Native to the Assam region of India, this variety flourishes in tropical climates and low elevations. Its leaves are significantly larger, broader, and more robust than those of the sinensis variety, making it well-suited for warmer and humid conditions. Primarily utilized in producing black teas, such as Assam and Ceylon, this variety is remarkably resilient.
- Camellia sinensis var. cambodiensis/parvifolia: A relatively rare variety primarily found in Cambodia, with some populations also found in parts of Vietnam and Thailand. It has medium-sized leaves and is usually used to create new cultivars.
What are tea cultivars?

You might have encountered the term "cultivar" while shopping for premium Japanese tea or Chinese Wuyi rock oolong tea. "Cultivar" is short for "cultivated variety." The main tea varieties: Sinensis, Assamica, and Cambodiensis, are found in nature, while cultivars are derived from one of these primary varieties or their hybrids. They are propagated through cuttings, which ensures that desirable traits, such as climate adaptability, disease resistance, and specific flavour profiles, are maintained.
There are thousands of tea cultivars worldwide. Tea farmers selectively breed these cultivars to guarantee consistent quality and stable harvests. Each cultivar has characteristics make it suitable for producing specific kinds of tea.
In the above image, for example, you can see three different cultivars used to produce Chinese teas. In particular, from the left, the Cat Ears cultivar and Xiao Ye Zhong (small leaf cultivar) are from Yibang Mountain, while the latter is the Zi Juan cultivar, with purple tender buds.
We often get the question: "How many tea plants are there?" Well, if you also count the tea cultivars, then there's an endless amount of different tea plants. Just in the Wuyishan tea region of Fujian alone, there are 2 dozen types of tea plants which are commonly cultivated today. Counting all the tea plants that are created in the past, we would be talking about hundreds of types of cultivars in this region alone.
Some of the Chinese varieties and cultivars
Beyond the cultivars above, some famous Chinese tea owes their name to the cultivar they are made of. For example, Tie Guan Yin tea is made of the namesake cultivar and it is a varietal tea (a tea made of one singular Camellia Sinensis variety). Zhenghe Baicha (政和白茶) is used to make Silver Needle and Bai Mu Dan white teas, while Qimen Zhong (祁门种) is used to make Keemun black tea. Jin Mu Dan is a cultivar used for producing the namesake oolong tea but also for black tea. Yunnan Da Ye Zhong, the large leaves cultivar from the Yunnan region, is instead the most common type for producing pu erh tea.
Another famous Chinese cultivar used to produce Long Jing green tea is the Camellia sinensis var. sinensis 'Longjing #43', also known as Longjing #43. This variety is highly appreciated for its aesthetic appearance, resilience, and early plugging season. It is the most commonly used cultivar for producing the iconic pan-fried green tea, but other cultivars are also used. Read this blog post to discover more about Long Jing cultivars.
Did you know that only the tea made with the camellia sinensis varieties and cultivars is considered 'real' tea? If you didn't, you may want to know what your nightly camomile or your rooibos latte is. In the next paragraph, we will clear it once and for all.

What about herbal and fruit teas?
As we know, tea is only made of the Camellia sinensis plant. You may wonder what the other delicious beverages you drink during the day are. Hot and cold beverages made from any other plants apart from Camellia sinensis are technically called tisanes. Mate and rooibos, sometimes wrongly called 'red tea', are also tisanes made from entirely different plants.
Just remember that tea is made from Camellia sinensis varieties and cultivars. Everything else prepared by infusing it in water is not tea; but tisane.