NARCOTIC PLANTS AND STIMULANTS — SAPFOKD. 415 



the taste of a novice. Its effects were undoubtedly stimulating, very- 

 much like strong tea. During a continuation of his cruise the writer 

 encountered yerba mate at Punta Arenas, on the Strait of Magellan, 

 and at various ports along the coast of Chile ; and later he found it 

 offered for sale in the markets of Bolivia.^ 



Ilex paraguanensis is an evergreen shrub or small tree with short, 

 petioled, glossy, oblong leaves 15 to 20 cm. long, acute or rounded at 

 the apex and wedge shaped at the base, with the margin remotely 

 toothed. The inflorescence consists of clusters of small flowers 

 growing from the leaf axils. The small globose fruits usually con- 

 tain four hard nutlets. The plant grows in Paraguay, especially at 

 Villa Eeal, above Asuncion, and at Villa San Xavier, between the 

 Kivers Uruguay and Parana. In Brazil the principal localities in 

 which it is cultivated are in the State of Parana, Santa Catharina, 

 and Eio Grande do Sul. The prepared yerba differs in quality. 

 The more common kind, called guazu, is produced by pounding the 

 scorched leaves in mortars in the earth. In preparing a finer grade, 

 called caa mirim, the leaves are carefully chosen and deprived of 

 their midrib before roasting, and the caa-cuys of Paraguay, the 

 finest of all, is prepared from the scarcely expanded buds and young 

 leaves. 



THE GUAYUSA ILEX OF ECUADOR. 



An Ilex resembling the yerba mate, but having much larger 

 leaves, was found by Richard Spruce in Ecuador, where it was used 

 by the Zaparo and Jibaro Indians inhabiting the eastern side of the 

 equatorial Andes. It was called by them guayusa. Spruce could 

 not satisfy himself as to its specific identity, for he was unable to 

 secure either flowers or fruits for comparison with herbarium ma- 

 terial. Botanists have not all agreed as to the delimitations of the 

 various species of South American Ilex. Some have treated various 

 forms, distinguished by the size of the leaves and other differences, 

 as varieties of a single species; others have regarded them asl 

 botanically distinct. According to Miers several distinct species are 

 used as a source of tea, including Ilex curifibensis, I. gigantea, I. 

 oiyalifolia^ I. humboldtiana^ and /. nigrofyMctata. The genus needs 

 further critical study. 



Spruce found the guayusa planted near villages and on the sites 

 of abandoned settlements, at elevations as great as 5,000 feet above 

 sea-level. In 1857 he observed a group of these trees in the gorge of 

 tne Rio Pastaza, below the town of Bafios, which were supposed to 

 have been planted before the conquest. Pie describes them as "not 



1 See Safford, W. E. " The flora of Banda Oriental." Bull. Torrey Botanical Club, 

 14 : 159-1G4. 1887. 



