Flowers We Love, Part 2

The Tea Tree Flower (Camillia Sinensis)

All the teas we drink -- whites, greens, oolongs, blacks, and pu-erhs -- come from the Camellia sinensis plant, an evergreen shrub that can grow to great height if left to its own devices. The differences come from the "varietal" that was used, where the tea was grown, and how it was processed. (A good explanation of the differences can be found here.)

The blooms, white and fragrant, appear in the fall.  How fragrant are they?  Dunno.  I guess I'll have to try to grow some of my own to see.  I found an excellent article on about.com: Growing Tea at Home, and some additional planting/growing tips here, and here. 

Pu-erh Tea Flower

We mostly are accustomed to using the leaves of the tea plant to make our tea.  But you can also buy special teas made with the tea flower, and enriched with the flowers' pollen. 

"Additional health qualities are attributed to them.  The flowers are also used to add a pleasant flavor to other green Puer teas. Just break a bit and add it to the pot of green tea to experience its mellowing effect."
from NatureProducts.net

Flowers We Love, Part I: The Coffee Tree
Flowers We Love, Part III: The Cacao Tree

Comments

[Andrew Spark]

What a nice blog.I like it.