''Stevia'' () is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about 240

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

s and

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

, native to

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species ''

Stevia rebaudiana ''Stevia rebaudiana'' is a plant species in the genus ''Stevia (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 . It has elongated lea ...

'' in this genus is widely grown for its extraction of sweet compounds from its leaves and sold as a

sugar substitute A sugar substitute or artificial sweetener, is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Arti ...

known as

stevia Stevia () is a sweet sugar substitute that is about 50 to 300 times sweetness, sweeter than sugar. It is extracted from the leaves of ''Stevia rebaudiana'', a plant native to areas of Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds in stevia are ...

and other trade names.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Stevia'' consists of 240 species. The genus was named for Spanish botanist and physician Petrus Jacobus Stevus (

Pedro Jaime Esteve Pedro Jaime Esteve (''latinicized: Estevius, Catalan: Pere Jaume Esteve''; c. 1500 in Sant Mateu del Maestrat – 1556 in Valencia) was a Spanish medical doctor, botanist, and humanist. Life and work Pedro Jaime Esteve studied in Valencia, Par ...

1500–1556), a professor of botany at the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

Distribution and habitat

The genus is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, with several species found as far north as

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The genus primary grows in semi-dry mountainous terrains but can also grow in other habitats such as grasslands, scrublands, forested mountain slopes, conifer forests, and subalpine vegetation.

Uses

Human use of the sweet species ''S. rebaudiana'' originated in South America. The species ''

'' is widely grown for the sweet compounds (

steviol glycoside Steviol glycosides are the chemical compounds responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the South American plant ''Stevia rebaudiana'' (Asteraceae) and the main ingredients (or chemical precursor, precursors) of many sugar substitute, swee ...

s) extracted from its leaves, sold as a

under the generic name

and several trade names.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Herbs Medicinal plants Sugar substitutes Asteraceae genera Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles