" > writes:

> [...]
> Black tea and (I think) pu-er teas are made from the Assam variety,
> which is faster growing and have larger leaves than the sinesis
> variety for the Chinese and Japanese green tea.

If by "black" you mean "fully oxidized", I'm afraid there are Chinese
blacks ("red" in Chinese classification) that are made from small-leaf
cultivars also used for greens and whites, e.g. Keemun (Qimen.) And
I've read that the famous seeds taken from China and planted in
Darjeeling for the best Indian black tea were C. sinensis sinensis.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html