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Stevia rebaudiana
Also called Sweet Leaf Of Paraguay, Stevia, Azucaca
In Singapore: Stevia, Sweet Leaf, Sugar Leaf, Candy Leaf, Sweet Herb of Paraguay, Sweet Honey Leaf, 甜菊, 甜叶菊 (Grown in Singapore)
Stevia rebaudiana is a tender perennial herb from Brazil and Paraguay, grown mainly for its intensely sweet leaves used as a sugar substitute. Keep it warm, moist and sunny, and protect it from frost.
Stevia rebaudiana is a plant species in the genus Stevia of the family Asteraceae. It is commonly known as candyleaf, sweetleaf or sugarleaf.
It is a small seasonal plant which grows to a height of 30–60 centimetres (1–2 feet). It has elongated leaves that grow along the stems and are lined up against each other. The flowers are typically trimmed to improve the taste of the leaves. Stevia is a tender perennial native to parts of Brazil and Paraguay having humid, wet environments.
Beginning in the 1960s, commercial cultivation had spread to Japan, Southeast Asia and the US, but also in mildly tropical climates in hilly areas of Nepal or India (Assam region). The plant prefers warm, moist and sunny conditions. The plant cannot survive frost during the winter and therefore greenhouses are used to grow stevia in Europe.
Stevia rebaudiana is found in the wild in semiarid habitats ranging from grassland to mountain terrain, does produce seeds, but only a small percentage of the seeds germinate.
Stevia rebaudiana has been used for centuries by the Guaraní people of Brazil and Paraguay, who called it ka'a he'ẽ ("sweet herb"), to sweeten the local yerba mate tea, as medicine, and as a "sweet treat". Rural and indigenous populations in Paraguay also used the plant as a contraceptive.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Stevia rebaudiana 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.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
