Abstract: Vegetative propagated seedlings of 4 different tea cultivars grown in pots were fertilized with nutrient solution containing 0βmmol/L and 6βmmol/L nitrogen. The growth and photosynthetic characteristics of tea plant were analyzed under normal and nitrogen deficiency stress condition. The results showed that the DW of stem shoot and root DW decreased significantly under the nitrogen deficiency stress condition except the root DW of ‘Tieguanyin’. Both the CO₂ assimilation and stomatal conductance of ‘Huangguanyin’ and ‘Maoxie’ cultivar decreased significantly under nitrogen deficiency but those of ‘Fuyun 6’ and ‘Tieguanyin’ did not change significantly. Intercellular CO₂ concentration of ‘Huangguanyin’ and ‘Maoxie’ cultivar increased significantly, whereas ‘Fuyun 6’ and ‘Tieguanyin’ did not change significantly. The maximal photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) of ‘Huangguanyin’ and ‘Maoxie’ cultivar decreased significantly, whereas ‘Fuyun 6’ and ‘Tieguanyin’ cultivar did not change significantly. In conclusion, the damage of photosynthetic system on ‘Huangguanyin’ and ‘Maoxie’ cultivar was more serious than that of ‘Fuyun 6’ and ‘Tieguanyin’ cultivar under the nitrogen deficiency stress.

Key words: tea cultivar, nitrogen deficiency, photosynthetic characteristic, fluorescence parameter