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Common Name: Stevia

General Information

Stevia rebaudiana is an annual plant that can grow up to 0.50 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Brazil, Paraguay.

Habitat

Infertile, sandy acid soils with shallow water tables. This is normally in areas like the edge of mashes and grassland communities.

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	0.50 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers a sandy soil, requiring a warm sunny position[].
It is a short day plant, growing up to 0.6 meters in the wild and flowering from January to March in the southern hemisphere. Flowering under short day conditions should occur 54-104 days following transplanting, depending on the daylength sensitivity of the cultivar.
The natural climate is semi-humid subtropical with temperature extremes from 21 to 43 C, averaging 24 C.
Stevia grows in areas with up to 1375mm of rain a year.
Plants are not very frost resistant, but can be grown as half-hardy annuals in Britain, starting them off in a greenhouse and planting them out after the last expected frosts.

Edible Uses

Leaves - raw or cooked. A very sweet liquorice-like flavour[]. The leaves contain 'stevioside', a substance that is 300 times sweeter than sucrose[]. Other reports say that they contain 'estevin' a substance that, weight for weight, is 150 times sweeter than sugar[, , , ]. The dried leaves can be ground and used as a sweetener or soaked in water and the liquid used in making preserves[]. The powdered leaves are also added to herb teas[]. The leaves are sometimes chewed by those wishing to reduce their sugar intake[]. The leaves can also be cooked and eaten as a vegetable[, ].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a warm greenhouse and only just cover the seed. Make sure the compost does not dry out. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots and grow them on fast, planting them out after the last expected frosts. It could be worthwhile giving them some protection such as a cloche or cold frame for a few weeks after planting them out until they are growing away well.