identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
A48813A5558A5FD28F33DB21FB22B245.text	A48813A5558A5FD28F33DB21FB22B245.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze	<div><p>Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze, Um die Erde: 500. 1881 .</p><p>≡ Thea sinensis L., Sp. Pl. 1: 515. 1753. ≡ Thea bohea L., Sp. Pl., ed. 2. 1: 734. 1762 ≡ Thea grandifolia Salisb., Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton 370. 1796 ≡ Thea chinensis Sims, Bot. Mag. 25: t. 998. 1807 ≡ Camellia thea Link, Enum. Hort. Berol. Alt. 2: 73. 1822 – Lectotype (designated by Bartholomew in Jarvis et al. 1993: 93): “ Tsja ” in Kaempfer, Amoen. Exot. Fasc.: 606, f. 1–2. 1712 – Epitype (designated here): The s [ive] Tja, Linnaeus C. 152 (LINN, image! Fig. 1). — An image of the epitype is available at https://linnean.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_fdd28637-3ffd-48a8-bb4a-696bf73fd09b/</p><p>= Thea viridis L., Sp. Pl., ed. 2. 1: 735. 1762 – Neotype (designated here): The s [ive] Tja, Linnaeus C. 152 (LINN, image! Fig. 1) .</p><p>Notes.</p><p>Linnaeus (1753) did not designate a type for T. sinensis . He subsequently abandoned the name and adopted T. bohea (Linnaeus 1762), an illegitimate replacement name for T. sinensis (Zhao et al. 2017) . After a series of searches of original material in the herbaria listed above, we found that there was a specimen of T. bohea, Linnaeus C. 152, conserved at herbarium LINN (Fig. 1). This collection bears complete leaves and flowers, which is suitable for acting as the lectotype of T. sinensis . Nevertheless, Bartholomew designated an illustration as the lectotype for T. sinensis (Jarvis et al. 1993), and his lectotypification must be followed under Art. 9.19 of the ICN (also see Art. 9 Ex. 2 for lectotyping Linnaean names). The illustration (Kaempfer 1712) does not, however, clearly show the diagnostic character states, such as the indumenta of the leaf buds, sepals, and ovaries, for precise identification of C. sinensis . Therefore, Linnaean specimen of T. bohea, Linnaeus C. 152 at LINN (Fig. 1), is selected as an epitype of T. sinensis to avoid potential confusion (Art. 9.9 of the ICN).</p><p>Thea bohea and T. chinensis are illegitimate replacement names for T. sinensis (Zhao et al. 2017) . Thea grandifolia and C. thea are also illegitimate replacement names for T. sinensis because T. bohea was the sole name cited in their synonymies (Salisbury 1796; Link 1822; Art. 52.2 [e] of the ICN). Linnaeus (1762) described T. viridis as “ floribus enneapetalis ” and recognized T. bohea as “ floribus hexapetalis ”. The number of petals usually varies within a single shrub of tea, so T. viridis was recognized as a heterotypic synonym of C. sinensis by previous taxonomists (e. g., Sealy 1958; Chang 1984; Ming 2000). The only citation under T. viridis, “ Hill. exot. t. 22 ”, is also provided under T. bohea (Linnaeus 1762), so it cannot serve as the type material. To avoid further confusion of the names, the epitype of C. sinensis, Linnaeus C. 152 at LINN (Fig. 1), is selected as the neotype of T. viridis regardless of the number of petals.</p><p>Camellia sinensis var. sinensis is native to the subtropical provinces and Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan, China. It can be distinguished from other infraspecific taxa by its pubescent leaf buds, acute, shortly attenuate or rounded leaf apex, abaxially glabrous sepals, and pubescent ovaries (Fig. 1; Zhao 2024). As an indigenous popular beverage plant, tea has been collected and planted for at least two millennia in the populous regions of China (Fang 1998). Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to identify a living specimen of tea in the forest as being genuinely wild or having escaped from cultivation (Zhao 2022, 2024).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/A48813A5558A5FD28F33DB21FB22B245	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Pensoft via Plazi	Zhao, Dongwei;Yang, Shixiong	Zhao, Dongwei, Yang, Shixiong (2026): Typification and new synonyms of tea (Camellia sinensis, Theaceae) and one of its infraspecific taxa. PhytoKeys 271: 251-258, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.271.173297
631F278E5A9851D2BDAE461ACED987E7.text	631F278E5A9851D2BDAE461ACED987E7.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Camellia sinensis var. pubilimba Hung T. Chang	<div><p>Camellia sinensis var. pubilimba Hung T. Chang, Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 20 (1): 98. 1981.</p><p>= Thea cantoniensis Lour., Fl. Cochinch. 1: 339. 1790, syn. nov. – Holotype: Loureiro s. n. (P 00150892, image!). — An image of the holotype is available at https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/p/item/p00150892</p><p>= Thea oleosa Lour., Fl. Cochinch. 1: 339. 1790, syn. nov. – Holotype: Loureiro s. n. (P 00150891, image!). — An image of the holotype is available at https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/p/item/p00150891</p><p>= Thea parvifolia Salisb., Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton 370. 1796 ≡ Camellia sinensis f. parvifolia (Salisb.) Sealy, Rev. Gen. Camellia 116. 1958, syn. nov. – Neotype (designated here): Loureiro s. n. (P 00150891, image!).</p><p>= Thea chinensis var. pubescens Pierre, Fl. Forest. Cochinch. t. 114 B. 1887, syn. nov. – Lectotype (designated here): Pierre, Fl. Forest. Cochinch. t. 114 B. 1887.</p><p>var. niaowangensis = Camellia sinensis var. niaowangensis Q. H. Chen &amp; H. Peng, Seed 30 (1): 65. 2011, syn. nov. – Holotype: China. Guizhou: Guiding, Pingfa, 1400 m, 5 November 2007, J. H. Wang 07001 (HGAS!).</p><p>Holotype.</p><p>China • Guangxi: Lingyun, Guangxi Forestry Institute 4209 (GXFI!) .</p><p>Notes.</p><p>Abaxial sepal indumentum of tea plants is a naturally variable character. Chang (1981) proposed a name, C. sinensis var. pubilimba, for the tea plant bearing an abaxially pubescent sepal. However, the earliest names for this kind of plant are T. cantoniensis and T. oleosa, which were described in 1790, and their types are conserved at herbarium P (also see Sealy 1958). Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses (Shen et al. 2025; Zhao 2025), samples of C. sinensis var. pubilimba cannot form a clade, and they are nested in the broad concept of tea, so it should be treated as an infraspecific taxon of tea rather than an independent species. Therefore, T. cantoniensis and T. oleosa do not bear priority at the infraspecific rank under Arts. 11.2 and 11.4 of the ICN.</p><p>Sealy (1958) suggested that C. sinensis f. parvifolia bore an abaxially hairy sepal. Since no type was indicated in the protologue of T. parvifolia (Salisbury 1796), the holotype of T. oleosa (P 00150891) is selected as the neotype of T. parvifolia . Sealy’s C. sinensis f. parvifolia may be the earliest infraspecific name for the plant based on the literature available. However, it is better to treat the tea plant bearing an abaxially hairy sepal as a variety of C. sinensis because this variation occurs in the natural distribution areas of both tea and Assam tea ( C. sinensis var. assamica). Additionally, Chang’s (1981) C. sinensis var. pubilimba has been used so widely (e. g., Chang and Bartholomew 1984; Ming 2000; Ming and Bartholomew 2007; Meng et al. 2018; Nguyen et al. 2022; Zhao 2024; Kong et al. 2025) that sustaining its nomenclatural stability will be very helpful (see Art. 14.2 of ICN). Therefore, the plant remains recognized as a variety of tea, and the name, C. sinensis var. pubilimba, retains the priority at the varietal rank (Art. 11.4 of the ICN) and accordingly, serves as the single correct name for the taxon.</p><p>Thea chinensis var. pubescens bore an abaxially hairy sepal according to its illustration (Pierre 1887), which is selected as the lectotype of the taxon. Thea cantoniensis, T. chinensis var. pubescens, T. oleosa, and T. parvifolia are all treated as the earlier heterotypic synonyms of C. sinensis var. pubilimba . A recently published name, C. sinensis var. niaowangensis (Wang et al. 2011), is also treated as a heterotypic synonym of C. sinensis var. pubilimba because it bears the common diagnostic character state of the sepals.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/631F278E5A9851D2BDAE461ACED987E7	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Pensoft via Plazi	Zhao, Dongwei;Yang, Shixiong	Zhao, Dongwei, Yang, Shixiong (2026): Typification and new synonyms of tea (Camellia sinensis, Theaceae) and one of its infraspecific taxa. PhytoKeys 271: 251-258, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.271.173297
