Ilex paraguariensis

Yerba maté

Medium-sized tree up to 13 metres tall with elongated elliptical, leathery leaves around 10 cm in length. Its numerous small white flowers give rise to small red stone fruits with several seeds.

Maté tea is traditionally drunk in South America. The leaves are cut, dried, smoked and infused to make tea. As the leaves contain up to 1.5% caffeine, maté tea is a good pick-me-up. In Argentina, maté is drunk from a calabash, a container made from the dried skin of the bottle gourd.

The Yerba maté shrub complements our tropical tea collection. We also propagate it as it is very popular in our plant sales.

Southern Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina

Aquifoliaceae (Holly family)

Flora Toskana

Maté tea is traditionally drunk in South America. The leaves are cut, dried, smoked and infused to make tea. As the leaves contain up to 1.5% caffeine, maté tea is a good pick-me-up. In Argentina, maté is drunk from a calabash, a container made from the dried skin of the bottle gourd.

The Yerba maté shrub complements our tropical tea collection. We also propagate it as it is very popular in our plant sales.

Ilex paraguariensis
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