Tea Tree

Tea tree or Ti-tree is a popular name that has been applied to a number of different, unrelated plants:

  • Camellia sinensis (aka Thea sinensis), from which black, green, oolong and white tea are all obtained.
  • Melaleuca alternifolia from which tea tree oil is obtained, in the family Myrtaceae.
  • Leptospermum, also in the family Myrtaceae; notably
    • Leptospermum scoparium (Manuka) in New Zealand and southeast Australia.
    • Leptospermum laevigatum, known as the Coastal Tea Tree and the Australian Tea Tree
  • Kanuka (Kunzea ericoides) also in New Zealand.
  • Boxthorn or Lycium in the family Solanaceae, notably
    • Duke of Argyll's Tea Tree (Lycium barbarum), also known as Wolfberry or Matrimony Vine.
  • Ti (plant), Cordyline fruticosa, in the family Laxmanniaceae, formerly treated in the family Agavaceae.

Also:

  • Tea Tree, Tasmania is a locality south of Hobart.
  • Ti Tree, Northern Territory is a small town.


Famous quotes containing the words tea and/or tree:

    “An old man drinks tea and reads the newspaper—forgetting age for a moment.”
    —Mason Cooley (b. 1927)

    “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
    nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
    scornful.
    But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he
    meditate day and night.
    And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
    bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
    and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
    —Bible: Hebrew Psalm I (l. I, 1–3)