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Ilex paraguariensis
Also called Mate, Yerba Maté, Holly, Paraguay tea, Brazilian Tea, Paraguayan Tea
Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is a South American holly that grows from a shrub into a tree up to 15 m tall, grown mainly for its caffeine-rich leaves used to brew mate and tereré. It is a species, not a genus, and is grown in plantations in its native subtropical regions.
Yerba mate or yerba maté ( YUR-bə MAH-tay), Ilex paraguariensis, is a plant species of the holly genus native to South America. The leaves of the plant can be steeped in hot water to make a beverage known as mate. Brewed cold, it is used to make tereré. Both the plant and the beverage contain caffeine.
The indigenous Guaraní and some Tupi communities (whose territory covered modern Paraguay) first cultivated and consumed yerba mate prior to European colonization of the Americas. Its consumption was exclusive to the natives of two regions of the territory that became Paraguay, specifically the departments of Amambay and Alto Paraná. After the Jesuits discovered its commercialization potential, yerba mate became widespread throughout the province and even elsewhere in the Spanish Crown. The plant was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire.
The yerba mate plant is grown and processed in its native regions of South America, specifically in Paraguay, some parts of northern Argentina (Misiones), Uruguay, and southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Mato Grosso do Sul). Cultivators are known as yerbateros (Spanish) or ervateiros (Brazilian Portuguese).
Seeds used to germinate new plants are harvested after they have turned dark purple, typically from January to April. After harvest, they are submerged in water in order to eliminate floating non-viable seeds and detritus like twigs, leaves, etc. New plants are started between March and May. For plants established in pots, transplanting takes place April through September. Plants with bare roots are transplanted only during the months of June and July.
The infusion, called mate in Spanish-speaking countries and chimarrão in Brazil, is prepared by filling a container, traditionally a small, hollowed-out gourd (described below), up to three-quarters full with dry leaves (and twigs) of I. paraguariensis, and filling it up with water at a temperature of 70–80 °C (160–175 °F), hot but not boiling. Sugar may or may not be added. The infusion may also be prepared with cold water, in which case it is known as tereré.
English holly · Dahoon · Ilex chapaensis · Ilex chinensis · Large gallberry · Japanese holly · Marsh Holly · Possumhaw · Inkberry · Guayusa · Elegance female holly · Ilex kaushue
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Yerba mate by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
