Short answers, pulled from the story.
The leaves of the tea plant contain between 2.5 and 4 percent of their dry weight in caffeine. This chemical compound has shaped global trade and altered the course of human history.
The Franklinia alatamaha was discovered by the botanist John Bartram and his son William in the 1760s along the banks of the Altamaha River in Georgia. The tree exists today only as a cultivated relic of a species that vanished from the wild in the late 18th century.
The most unique feature of Theaceae flowers is the presence of pseudopollen produced from connective cells. This substance exhibits either rib-like or circular thickenings and sets the family apart from all other flowering plant families.
The Camellia sect. Thea is the only section of the genus where caffeine and its precursors theobromine and theophylline are produced. This specific section includes the tea plant and its close relatives.
The fossil Pentapetalum trifasciculandricus dates back approximately 91 million years to the Cretaceous period. This ancient fossil offers a rare glimpse into the early evolution of the Theaceae family.