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Theaceae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Theaceae | ||||||||||
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 Tea Camellia sinensis
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| Genera | ||||||||||
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Apterosperma |
The Theaceae is a family of flowering plants, composed of shrubs and trees recognizable by their serrated, usually glossy leaves. The Theaceae is part of order Ericales, in the branch of the dicots known as the Asterids. Some botanists include the family Ternstroemiaceae within the Theaceae[1] while others do not.[2]
Most of the genera are native to eastern Asia (Malesia north to Japan), with several genera in South America and Central America; three genera (Franklinia, Gordonia and Stewartia) also have species native to the southeastern United States, with Franklinia being endemic there, and under recent interpretations, also Gordonia with the Asian species formerly included in that genus being transferred to Polyspora.[3]
Most of the genera have evergreen foliage, but Stewartia and Franklinia are deciduous.
The best known genus is Camellia, which includes the plant whose leaves are used to produce tea (Camellia sinensis), as well as the several species grown widely for their flowers and handsome foliage.