Climate divison of tea tree cultivated limit in China

The relationship between climatic factors and the tea tree cultivated limits is studied.The results show that the temperature condition in winter is the key factor of determining the tea tree cultivated limit in China.We take annual extreme minimum temperature ≤-15℃ and ≤-5℃(frequency being 10%) as the north cultivated limit of the bush-mid or small leaf type tea tree and the tall treebig leaf type tea tree,respectively.Therefore,the north limit for the bush-mid or small leaf type tea tree is along Sheyang,Bengbu,Xinyang,Shangxian,Wudu,Luding,Deqin,Linzhi and Cuona. The north limit for the tall tree-big leaf type tea tree is along Wengzhou,Longyan,Shaoguan,Rongjiang,Guangnan,Kunming and Liuku.The vertical lowest temperature limit of two kinds of tea tree is -10℃ and -3℃ respectively.Then,the vertical limit height of two kinds of tea tree cultivation is between 440 and 2130 meters above sea level.