Three basic tea leaf varieties
- 小葉種small-leaf variety: small leaf is c.s. sinensis, china bush is used for green teas and yellow teas.
- 中葉種medium-leaf variety: medium leaf is c.s. cambodiensis, java bush is used for white teas and oolongs.
- 大葉種large-leaf variety: large leaf is c.s. assamica, assam bush is used for black teas and puerhs.
(Yet this is an over-simplification, hybrids from the three varieties make up over 1500 varietals ).
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