Botanical Family · Ericales

Theaceae

Tea Family

4 speciesOrder Ericales4+ well-known plants

The Theaceae family (Tea Family) is a botanical family placed in the order Ericales. In the SASYA catalogue it spans 4 species across 3 genera. Its members are predominantly trees. Well-represented genera include Camellia, Eurya and Gordonia. Several members are valued in traditional medicine. Familiar examples include Camellia, Tea plant and Shining Eurya.

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Representative specimen · Theaceae

Key pattern

Alternate, leathery, often glossy evergreen leaves on shrubs and trees; showy, usually white or yellow flowers have numerous stamens fused at the base into short bundles, ripening into a woody capsule.

The young leaves and buds of one species, Camellia sinensis, are the sole source of all true tea — green, black, oolong, and white teas differ only in processing, not in the plant itself.

Identify the species

Which Theaceae species is this?

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Family identification method

To check whether a plant belongs to Theaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.

Learn the full family-identification method