Yerba mate

Yerba mate, scientific name Ilex paraguariensis, is a species of holly native to South America, found in Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, southern Brazil and parts of Uruguay. It grows from a shrub into a tree up to 15 meters tall, with evergreen serrated leaves 7 to 110 millimeters long that contain caffeine and related xanthine alkaloids. Its small greenish-white flowers produce red drupes 4 to 6 millimeters across. The dried leaves are steeped in hot water to make the traditional beverage mate, or brewed cold as tereré, both consumed widely in South America as social drinks traditionally shared from a hollowed gourd through a metal or wooden straw called a bombilla. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/