Birth flower for October 9
Tea flower
Meaning: remembrance
The tea plant is a close cousin of the camellia, with small white flowers that nod downward around a big tuft of golden stamens. Tea bushes are clipped for their leaves, so flowers are rarely seen in plantations. It blooms in autumn just as last year's fruit ripens, so flowers and fruit hang together on the same branch. In Japanese haiku, tea flowers are a word for early winter.