|
Download PDF
Stevia
rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni
Standardized Common
Name: Stevia
Other Common Names: Candyleaf,
Paraguayan Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf
Family: Asteraceae
(Compositae)
Taxonomy: Stevia
includes over 200 tropical American species. Stevia rebaudiana is
endemic to Paraguay in the wild, although often cultivated elsewhere. So far as
is known, no common related species shares the sweet taste for which the leaves
are valued.
Description: Perennial subshrub;
stems erect, 30–80(–140) cm high. Leaves opposite, sessile, lanceolate to
spatulate-oblanceolate, (2–)3–5 cm long, 5–17(–25) mm broad; base cuneate; apex
obtuse; margins serrate only above the middle. Inflorescence a loose panicle of
heads (capitula), each with 5 disk florets. Involucre cylindrical; bracts
(phyllaries) 5–8 mm long, narrowly lanceolate with acute apices. Receptacle
flat, without bracts (paleae) beneath individual florets. Florets tubular, as
long as involucre to twice as long; corolla tube white or pale purple; lobes 5,
small, white, spreading. Fruit an achene (technically a cypsella), ca. 3 mm
long, longitudinally ridged; pappus a single ring of 15–17 bristles.
Parts
in Commerce:
Leaves
Identification:
- Lanceolate to
oblanceolate or oblong, (2–)3–5 cm long, 5–17(–25) mm broad
- Base cuneate,
with long taper to narrow attachment at stem, sessile or with very short
petiole
- Apex obtuse
- Margins entire
toward base, serrate to crenate toward apex with shallow blunt teeth
- 3 main veins,
with few netted secondary veins between them
- Texture varying
from papery to almost leathery
- Olive to
brownish green, often darker above
- Bearing short,
inconspicuous hairs, especially near margins
- Taste strongly
sweet
References:
Robinson BL. The Stevias of Paraguay. Contrib
Gray Herb Harvard Univ. 1930;90:79–90.
Soejarto DD. Botany of Stevia and Stevia
rebaudiana. In: Kinghorn AD, ed. Stevia: the Genus Stevia. London:
Taylor & Francis; 2002:18–39. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants—Industrial
Profiles, vol. 19.
Figure 72: Stevia rebaudiana leaf.
|
