Objective An early-maturing, high-quality tea cultivar for making aromatic green tea was bred to extend the current selection of raw material.

Method ‘Chunlü’ was bred by the artificial hybridization using ‘Fuyun 6’ as the female parent and ‘Zaochunzao’ as the male parent.

Result After 16 years of testing and evaluation, ‘Chunlü’ was proven to sprout more than 10d earlier in spring than it took for the reference, ‘Fuding Dabaicha’, with comparable bud density and fresh leaf yield. In three consecutive years, it outperformed control with respect to aroma and taste in the sensory evaluation sessions held in Shekou (Fu’an), Wuyishan, and Lianjiang. It also exhibited stronger resistance to infestation, drought, and low temperatures than control.

Conclusion ‘Chunlü’ was a newly bred tea variety that sprouted early and densely with robust growth. The leaves remained tender for a long while with abundant trichomes and pronounced floral fragrance. Thus, Chunlü could be an additional cultivar to be cultivated in Fujian and similar regions for making green teas.