Cambod jat
The third of the classical Indian seed jats, taken from the southern Indochinese form that botany argues about under the name var. cambodiensis. It sits between the Chinese and Assam types in leaf size and habit, and its practical importance is as a crossing partner: much Indian and Sri Lankan planting material carries Cambod ancestry in a mixture, and very little of it is Cambod alone.
Where it sits in the botany
Cambod jat is recorded under Camellia sinensis var. cambodiensis, the variety group one level above cultivar. It is associated with India, which is where it was selected or is most widely planted rather than the only place it grows.
Also transliterated as: cambod jat, cambodiensis jat.
Where it came from
Seed stock of the southern form introduced to Indian plantations as one of the recognised jats and used extensively in hybrid populations.
How firm this is: Inferred rather than taken from a primary breeding or registration record. The jat is documented in Indian planting literature; the taxonomic status of the underlying form is itself unsettled, and introduction dates were not verified.
What the plant is like
Upright, fast-growing, with a leaf of intermediate size and a lighter green than Assam material. Recognisable in a mixed field by habit rather than by any single feature.
What it is usually made into
The categories this cultivar is typically processed into. It is a statement about common practice, not a limit — processing decides the category, and a cultivar can be taken down more than one route.
- Black tea — Tea taken deliberately through full enzymatic oxidation, giving the dark leaf, amber-to-red liquor and malty or brisk character most Western drinkers think of as simply 'tea'.
Other cultivars in Camellia sinensis var. cambodiensis
Guides covering this cultivar
- Sinensis, assamica, and the third name that will not settle — Tea botany has two levels, and most tea writing collapses them into one. Above the cultivar sits the botanical variety, and the difference between the small-leaf and large-leaf varieties explains more about a tea than any cultivar name does.
Sources
- TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ
This page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis throughout. No breeding register or institutional record stands behind the account above, which is why the origin note carries its confidence in the open rather than reading as a citation.