These adorable white flowers, about 2 cm in diameter, caught my eye. They are Camellia sinensis, commonly known as the 'tea plant,' which I saw at the Koishikawa Botanical Garden in Tokyo. The tea plant belongs to the camellia genus, and I was surprised by how small a camellia flower could be.
'Tea' has always meant green tea to me because my late maternal grandmother ran a Japanese green tea shop by herself after my grandfather passed away. I often helped her package tea leaves during my summer and winter vacations. As a result, I’ve seen a wide variety of green tea leaves—from very expensive ones like gyokuro (jade dew) to standard sencha—but I had never seen the actual tea plants or their flowers before.
Because of a decrease in green tea drinking in Japan, store sales declined and her youngest daughter (i.e., my aunt) closed the business. Ironically, Grandma didn't drink (and might not have liked) green tea very much. She had coffee and cheese every morning for breakfast, and I also have café au lait and cheese every morning these days...😆
The garden, about 40 acres in Central Tokyo, was opened by the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th century to grow medicinal herbs. In 1877, after the Meiji Restoration, it became a part of Tokyo Imperial University (i.e., currently the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science).
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| Camellia sinensis 茶の木 |
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| Tea plant アッサムチャ |
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小石川植物園の茶の木（アッサムチャ）です。最初「ちっちゃい花だな、何だろう」と近づくと「アッサムチャ」という札が目に入り、家でググったら「茶の木」と出てくるではありませんか。これ、お茶の木なんですね。亡き祖母は茶舗を経営しており、私も子供の頃、袋詰めを手伝ったものです。なので茶葉はよく見ていましたがお茶の花や木を見るの初めて。しかもお茶の木って椿（camellia）の仲間なんですね。
茶離れが進み、お店は結局畳みました。ちなみに祖母の朝食は毎日コーヒーとチーズ。そして私の今の朝食もカフェオレとチーズです😆。
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