政和大白茶
Zhenghe Dabai
Clonal, late-sprouting, large-leaf small tree from Tieshan town, Zhenghe; the basis of Zhenghe Silver Needle and White Peony. Approved nationally in 1985.
- Botanical
- Camellia sinensis
- Kind
- clonal cultivar
- Origin
- Zhenghe County
The plant behind the name#
- Plant habit
- Small-tree habit.
- Propagation
- Clonal cultivar.
- Leaf class
- Large-leaf class.
- Sprouting
- Late-sprouting cultivar.
- Documented uses
- Suitable for white, black and green tea manufacture.
Same plant, different craft#
Zhenghe Dabai · A cultivar identifies the plant. Processing determines how its leaves become different kinds of tea.
White Peony
White-tea manufacture: the cultivar record identifies Zhenghe Dabai as material for White Peony.
Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesZhenghe Gongfu
Black-tea manufacture: the Fujian agriculture department documents Zhenghe Dabai in Zhenghe Gongfu.
Fujian Agriculture DepartmentAlso sold or written as 4#
Chinese variants
- 政和白茶Zhenghe — white teazh-Wikipedia uses this as the cultivar article's title, but it is also the name of the GI tea, Zhenghe white tea.
Romanisations
- Zhenghe Dabaicha
Translations and trade names
- Zhenghe Da Bai
Registration identifiers
- GS13005-1985National approval number (1985), as given by zh-Wikipedia.
Names and ambiguities#
Notes#
zh-Wikipedia describes it as a small tree (小乔木型), large-leaf (大叶类), late-sprouting (晚生) clonal cultivar from Tieshan town in Zhenghe. It is grown mainly in Zhenghe, Songxi, Jianyang, Zhouning and Fu'an, and from 1960 it was introduced to Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan and Sichuan. The plants are tall, with oval, dark-green, hairy, glossy leaves, and give a high yield. It suits black, green and white tea (Silver Needle, Fujian Xueya, White Peony). It is fairly cold- and drought-hardy but susceptible to small green leafhopper and red spider mite. Zhenghe growers switched to it between 1851 and 1874, and it was approved nationally in 1985 (GS13005-1985). en-Wikipedia attributes the darker, fuller Zhenghe style of Silver Needle partly to this cultivar's leaf. Variety rank is not stated in the cited sources.
Teas made from it#
白茶
White tea báichá
Tea chiefly made by withering, drying and sorting, without green-tea fixation. Traditional forms are unrolled; Fuding new-craft white tea adds light rolling.
sourced
白毫银针
Silver Needle Báiháo Yínzhēn
Bud-only white tea made from Dabai or Shuixian plant material under the national product definition. Fuding and Zhenghe are important production origins.
sourced
白牡丹
White Peony Bái Mǔdān
White tea from a bud with one or two young leaves of Dabai or Shuixian cultivars, fuller than Silver Needle; named for its flower-like leaf clusters.
sourced
寿眉
Shou Mei Shòuméi
Leafy white tea made from tender shoots or leaves of Dabai, Shuixian or population-type tea plants. Sold loose or pressed; leaf grade, season and storage are separate details.
sourced
政和工夫
Zhenghe Gongfu Zhènghé Gōngfū
Gongfu black tea from Zhenghe in northern Fujian, with a documented tradition using Zhenghe Dabai leaf material.
sourced