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Ilex paraguariensis

A.St.-Hil. (1822)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Asterids Order: Aquifoliales Family: Aquifoliaceae Genus: Ilex

paraguay tea, yerba maté [yerba mate]

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Evergreen shrubs or small trees 4–7 m tall.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades elliptic to obovate, 2.5–13(–25) cm long, 2–6.4 cm wide. Surfaces glabrous, dark green; Blades glabrous. Margins undulate and coarsely crenate in the upper ⅔. Petiolate. Stipules minute.

Flowers: Flowers in numerous small cymes along the current year's growth, usually 1–2 cm long. Peduncles flattened, 0.5–0.8 cm long. Flowers unisexual, occasionally some of the flowers appearing bisexual (perfect). pedicels ca. 2–6 mm long with 2 bracteoles below the middle, these 2–3 mm long. Calyx 4-lobed, 0.4–0.6 mm long. Corolla lobes usually as many as sepals; usually 4–5, 1.5–2 mm long. Stamens as many as petals, inserted at the base of the corolla, staminodia in pistillate flowers similar to fertile stamens, but usually smaller. Ovary superior; 4-celled.

Fruit: Fruit drupaceous; with as many 1–seeded pyrenes as carpels. fruit dark red to brownish; ca. 6 mm in diameter. Seeds with abundant oily or proteinaceous endosperm.

Ploidy: 2n = 40

Habitat: Sparingly naturalized in mesic valleys.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

O'ahu Naturalized

Dispersal Agents

Birds

Pollinators

Notes

  • Description digitized by Pumehana Imada
  • Native to Paraguay and adjacent Argentina and Brazil; in Hawai‘i cultivated and sparingly naturalized.

Bibliography

Name Published In: Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. 9: 351 (1822)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:224 (O); Staples & Herbst 2005:129 (KEY), 130 (DESCR)

Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., & Sohmer, S. H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, Vols. 1 and 2 (No. Edn 2). University of Hawai'i and Bishop Museum Press.

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Ilex paraguariensis Mahaulepu Mesic forest UNKNOWN C. R. Annable Oahu HAPI 12/20/1996
2 Ilex paraguariensis Hoea Mesic forest UNKNOWN C. R. Annable Oahu HAPI 12/20/1996
3 Ilex paraguariensis Manoa Valley, Lyon Arboretum, Haukulu Partial sun on a dry mesic ridge top. Associates; Ardisia crenata, Ardisia elliptica, Alphitonia sp., Odontosoria chinensis, Cibotium sp., Psidium cattleyanum. Preserved_Specimen Arthur, K. 165 Oahu BISH 2025-08-29
4 Ilex paraguariensis Honolulu, Manoa Cliff Trail, at second switch back from trail head. Associated vegetation Psidium cattleianum, Ardisia crenata, Setaria palmifolia, Oplismenus hirtellus Preserved_Specimen Kennedy, B. 145 Oahu BISH 2022-09-16
5 Ilex paraguariensis Manoa District, H.S.P.A. Plantation Preserved_Specimen Grant, M.L. 7544 Oahu BISH 1934-10-29
6 Ilex paraguariensis Forest of Psidium cattleianum, top of Manoa Cliffs Preserved_Specimen Takeuchi, W.N. 172 Oahu BISH 1984-05-19
7 Ilex paraguariensis Lyon Arboretum, Honolulu. From nose of ridge just above section 10 Preserved_Specimen Baker, R.F. 123 Oahu BISH 1975-06-13
8 Ilex paraguariensis Herbarium of the University of Hawaii Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 684 Oahu BISH 1967-10-29
9 Ilex paraguariensis Lyon Arboretum, Honolulu Preserved_Specimen Nagata, K.M. 221 Oahu BISH 1967-06-14
10 Ilex paraguariensis Lyon Arboretum, Honolulu. From nose of ridge just above section 10 Preserved_Specimen Baker, R.F. 123 Oahu BISH 1975-06-13
11 Ilex paraguariensis Honolulu, Manoa Cliff trail Preserved_Specimen Stone, B.C. Oahu BISH 1960-06-01
12 Ilex paraguariensis Mahaulepu Mesic forest UNKNOWN C. R. Annable Oahu HAPI 12/20/1996
13 Ilex paraguariensis Hoea Mesic forest UNKNOWN C. R. Annable Oahu HAPI 12/20/1996
14 Ilex paraguariensis Manoa Valley, Lyon Arboretum, Haukulu Partial sun on a dry mesic ridge top. Associates; Ardisia crenata, Ardisia elliptica, Alphitonia sp., Odontosoria chinensis, Cibotium sp., Psidium cattleyanum. Preserved_Specimen Arthur, K. 165 Oahu BISH 2025-08-29
15 Ilex paraguariensis Honolulu, Manoa Cliff Trail, at second switch back from trail head. Associated vegetation Psidium cattleianum, Ardisia crenata, Setaria palmifolia, Oplismenus hirtellus Preserved_Specimen Kennedy, B. 145 Oahu BISH 2022-09-16
16 Ilex paraguariensis Manoa District, H.S.P.A. Plantation Preserved_Specimen Grant, M.L. 7544 Oahu BISH 1934-10-29
17 Ilex paraguariensis Forest of Psidium cattleianum, top of Manoa Cliffs Preserved_Specimen Takeuchi, W.N. 172 Oahu BISH 1984-05-19
18 Ilex paraguariensis Lyon Arboretum, Honolulu. From nose of ridge just above section 10 Preserved_Specimen Baker, R.F. 123 Oahu BISH 1975-06-13
19 Ilex paraguariensis Herbarium of the University of Hawaii Preserved_Specimen Herbst, D.R. 684 Oahu BISH 1967-10-29
20 Ilex paraguariensis Lyon Arboretum, Honolulu Preserved_Specimen Nagata, K.M. 221 Oahu BISH 1967-06-14
21 Ilex paraguariensis Lyon Arboretum, Honolulu. From nose of ridge just above section 10 Preserved_Specimen Baker, R.F. 123 Oahu BISH 1975-06-13
22 Ilex paraguariensis Honolulu, Manoa Cliff trail Preserved_Specimen Stone, B.C. Oahu BISH 1960-06-01
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