One of the regular topics of conversation in online tea communities, especially amongst those focused on puerh tea is the topic of wild tea.   Yunnan has many tea trees growing wild, some taste very much like more regular cultivated tea, some taste wildly different.   Some people enjoy drinking these wild varieties, some abhor them.  

One common suggestion that people make is that trees other than Camellia Sinensis var Assamica or Camellia Sinensis var Sinensis aren't tea.   According to generally accepted methods of classification it's a little more complicated than that.

Since the information I have been able to find in English is rather limited, I thought I'd offer a translation of the chapter from "Go into the Kingdom of Tea Plants" by Shen Pei Ping. 

A quick heads-up for the general reader: This gets a little technical. We are looking at the scientific family tree of the Camellia genus. You are going to see a lot of Latin names, botanical timelines, and detailed lists of species.

Classification of Tea Plants

I. A Brief History of Tea Plant Classification

In botanical taxonomy, tea plants belong to the family Theaceae, genus Camellia, and section Thea (Sect. Thea). Section Thea was established in 1874, but its history can be traced back much further. Linnaeus first named two genera and two species, Camellia japonica L. (Camellia) and Thea sinensis L. (Tea), in his famous work "Species Plantarum" in 1753. In 1874, Dyer merged the genus Thea into the genus Camellia in "Flora of British India" and for the first time classified them under the genus as two groups: Section Camellia and Section Thea. The predecessor of Sect. Thea is the genus Thea that existed synchronously with the genus Camellia in history.

Due to historical reasons and differences in personal viewpoints, there is considerable controversy regarding the scope of Sect. Thea and the subdivision of species within the section.

The early Sect. Thea did not contain many species; Dyer's Sect. Thea had only 3 species, and Sealy's (1958) system for Sect. Thea contained only 5 species. Since the widespread investigation of wild tea resources in China began in the 1980s, there has been a surge in the publication of new species, with a cumulative total of more than 40 new taxa described (Table 2-4). Among them, there are indeed some good species with new discoveries, but the emergence of a large number of new species inevitably brought chaos to the taxonomy, leading to the development of a series of taxonomic revision works.

After Zhang Hongda proposed his tea plant classification system in 1981, he revised it in 1984 and 1998 respectively; Ming Tianlu conducted a major revision of the tea group plants in 1992, merging Zhang Hongda's Sect. Glaberrima into Sect. Thea, and merging the 47 species of tea plants at that time into 12 species; in 1996, Zhang Hongda published a special article to restore Sect. Glaberrima and some of the species that had been merged. Currently, the clarification of species in Sect. Thea remains a subject worth studying.

Table 2-4: Statistics of New Taxa of Tea Plants (1980 ~ 2000)

No.	Chinese Name (Hanzi & Pinyin)	Scientific Name	Year of Publication
1	大厂茶 (Dà Chǎng Chá)	Camellia tachangensis	张芳赐 (F.C. Zhang) 1980
2	防城茶 (Fáng Chéng Chá)	Camellia fangchengensis	梁盛业等 (S.Y. Liang et al.) 1981
3	五室茶 (Wǔ Shì Chá)	Camellia quinquelocularis	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
4	四球茶 (Sì Qiú Chá)	Camellia tetracocca	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
5	广西茶 (Guǎng Xī Chá)	Camellia kwangsiensis	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
6	五柱茶 (Wǔ Zhù Chá)	Camellia pentastyla	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
7	厚轴茶 (Hòu Zhóu Chá)	Camellia crassicolumna	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
8	皱叶茶 (Zhòu Yè Chá)	Camellia crispula	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
9	秃房茶 (Tū Fáng Chá)	Camellia gymnogyna	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
10	秃山茶 (Tū Shān Chá)	Camellia glaberrima	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
11	突肋茶 (Tū Lèi Chá)	Camellia costata	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
12	榕江茶 (Róng Jiāng Chá)	Camellia yungkiangensis	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
13	广东山茶 (Guǎng Dōng Shān Chá)	Camellia kwangtungensis	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
14	膜叶茶 (Mó Yè Chá)	Camellia leptophylla	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
15	毛叶茶 (Máo Yè Chá)	Camellia ptilophylla	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
16	白毛茶 (Bái Máo Chá)	Camellia sinensis var. pubilimba	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
17	细萼茶 (Xì È Chá)	Camellia parvisepala	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
18	狭叶茶 (Xiá Yè Chá)	Camellia angustifolia	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1981
19	大苞茶 (Dà Bāo Chá)	Camellia grandibracteata	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
20	广南茶 (Guǎng Nán Chá)	Camellia kwangnanica	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
21	老黑茶 (Lǎo Hēi Chá)	Camellia atrothea	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
22	圆基茶 (Yuán Jī Chá)	Camellia rotundata	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
23	马关茶 (Mǎ Guān Chá)	Camellia makuanica	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
24	哈尼茶 (Hā Ní Chá)	Camellia haaniensis	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
25	紫果茶 (Zǐ Guǒ Chá)	Camellia purpurea	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
26	多瓣茶 (Duō Bàn Chá)	Camellia multiplex	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
27	多脉茶 (Duō Mài Chá)	Camellia polyneura	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
28	多萼茶 (Duō È Chá)	Camellia multisepala	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
29	苦茶 (Kǔ Chá)	Camellia sinensis var. kucha	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
30	德宏茶 (Dé Hóng Chá)	Camellia dehungensis	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
31	拟细萼茶 (Nǐ Xì È Chá)	Camellia parvisepaloides	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1984
32	勐腊茶 (Měng Là Chá)	Camellia manglaensis	谭永济等 (Y.J. Tan et al.) 1984
33	元江茶 (Yuán Jiāng Chá)	Camellia yunkiangcha	谭永济等 (Y.J. Tan et al.) 1984
34	五苞茶 (Wǔ Bāo Chá)	Camellia quinquebracteata	叶创兴 (C.X. Ye) 1987
35	汝城毛叶茶 (Rǔ Chéng Máo Yè Chá)	Camellia pubescens	叶创兴 (C.X. Ye) 1987
36	丹寨茶 (Dān Zhài Chá)	Camellia danzaiensis	蓝开敏 (K.M. Lan) 1989
37	疏齿茶 (Shū Chǐ Chá)	Camellia remotiserrata	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1990
38	假秃房茶 (Jiǎ Tū Fáng Chá)	Camellia gymnogynoides	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1990
39	南川茶 (Nán Chuān Chá)	Camellia nanchuanica	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1990
40	缙云山茶 (Jìn Yún Shān Chá)	Camellia jinyunshanica	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1990
41	高树茶 (Gāo Shù Chá)	Camellia arborescens	张宏达 (H.T. Chang) 1990
42	昌宁茶 (Chāng Níng Chá)	Camellia changningensis	张芳赐等 (F.C. Zhang et al.) 1990
43	龙陵茶 (Lóng Líng Chá)	Camellia longlingensis	张芳赐等 (F.C. Zhang et al.) 1990
44	底圩茶 (Dǐ Xū Chá)	Camellia dishiensis	张芳赐等 (F.C. Zhang et al.) 1990
45	上坝厚轴茶 (Shàng Bà Hòu Zhóu Chá)	Camellia crassicolumna var. shangbaensis	张芳赐 (F.C. Zhang) 1997
46	老挝茶 (Lǎo Wō Chá)	Camellia sealyama	闵天禄 (T.L. Ming) 1999

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II. Systematic Classification of Tea Plants

Currently, the more influential classification systems for the genus Camellia are primarily three: the Sealy System, the Zhang Hongda System, and the Ming Tianlu System.

(1) Sealy System

The Sealy System was proposed in 1958 in his monograph on the genus Camellia, "A Revision of the Genus Camellia". This system established 12 sections under the genus Camellia, among which Sect. Thea (Tea Section) contains 5 species and 1 variety. They are:

• 1. C. gracilipes
• 2. C. irrawadiensis
• 3. C. pubicosta
• 4a. C. sinensis var. sinensis
• 4b. C. sinensis var. assamica
• 5. C. taliensis

Note: Among them, C. gracilipes was moved to Sect. Longissima and Sect. Longipetiolataby Zhang Hongda (1981) and Ming Tianlu (1999) respectively; C. pubicosta was moved to Sect. Brachyandra by Ming Tianlu (1999).

(2) Zhang Hongda System

Zhang Hongda's system was first proposed in 1981. At that time, Sect. Thea included 17 species, 13 of which were new species. Later, many new species were added, increasing the number of species to more than 40. The species confirmed in the latest "Flora of China" in 1998 were 32 species and 4 varieties. Besides the large number of species, another significant feature of this system is the sub-classification within Sect. Thea, establishing four Series (Ser.). The classification system is as follows:

Ser. I. Quinquelocularis (Five Locule Series)

• C. grandibracteata
• C. kwangsiensis
• C. kwangnanica
• C. nanchuanica
• C. remotiserrata
• C. tachangensis (incl. C. quinquelocularis, C. tetracocca)

Ser. II. Pentastylae (Five Style Series)

• C. atrothea
• C. crassicolumna
• C. makuanica(incl. C. haaniensis, C. multiplex)
• C. pentastyla
• C. rotundata
• C. taliensis
• C. irrawadiensis
• C. crispula

Ser. III. Gymnogynae (Gymnogynous/Naked Ovary Series)

• C. costata
• C. dehungensis (incl. C. gymnogynoides, C. manglaensis)
• C. gymnogyna
• C. jinyunshanica
• C. leptophylla
• C. parvisepaloides
• C. yungkiangensis

Ser. IV. Sinenses (Tea Series)

• C. angustifolia
• C. arborescens
• C. assamica (incl. var. polyneura, var. kucha)
• C. fangchengensis
• C. multisepala
• C. parvisepala
• C. ptilophylla
• C. pubescens
• C. pubicosta
• C. purpurea
• C. sinensis(incl. var. pubilimba, var. waldenae)

Note: Zhang Hongda (1998) only involved species distributed within China. Two species not distributed in China (C. irrawadiensis and C. pubicosta) were added by the author based on his past literature.

(3) Ming Tianlu System

Ming Tianlu (1992) merged Zhang Hongda's Sect. Glaberrima (Glabrous Sepal Section) into Sect. Thea and revised the then 40+ species of Sect. Thea into 12 species and 6 varieties. The system outline published in 1999 and the monograph on the genus Camellia published in 2000 made minor adjustments to the 1992 system, merging C. purpurea into C. crassicolumna and adding a new species C. sealyama. Therefore, the system maintains 12 species and 6 varieties.

• 1a. C. tachangensis
  • C. quinquelocularis
  • C. tetracocca
• 1b. C. tachangensis var. remotiserrata
  • C. remotiserrata
  • C. nanchuanica
  • C. jinyunshanica
  • C. gymnogynoides
• 2. C. grandibracteata
• 3a. C. kwangsiensis
• 3b. C. kwangsiensis var. kwangnanica
  • C. kwangnanica
• 4. C. taliensis
  • C. changningensis
  • C. pentastyla
  • C. irrawadiensis
• 5a. C. crassicolumna
• C. crispula
• C. rotundata
• C. atrothea
• C. makuanica
• C. haaniensis
• C. purpurea
• C. crassicolumna var. shangbaensis
• 5b. C. crassicolumna var. multiplex
• C. multiplex
• 6. C. sealyama
• 7. C. gymnogyna
  • C. glaberrima
• 8. C. costata
• C. yungkiangensis
• C. kwangtungensis
• C. danzaiensis
• 9. C. leptophylla
• 10. C. fangchengensis
• 11. C. ptilophylla
  • C. pubescens
• 12a. C. sinensis
  • C. arborescens
  • C. sinensis var. waldenae
• 12b. C. sinensis var. assamica
  • C. assamica
  • C. assamica var. polyneura
  • C. assamica var. kucha
  • C. multisepala
• 12c. C. sinensis var. dehungensis
  • C. dehungensis
  • C. parvisepaloides
  • C. manglaensis
• 12d. C. sinensis var. pubilimba
  • C. angustifolia
  • C. parvisepala
  • C. yunkiangcha
  • C. dishiensis