Yerba Mate (Ilex Paraguariensis) is an evergreen shrub, or a tree with smooth whitish bark and hard wood. The branches of the plant are sprawling, forming a pyramidal crown. The flowering period is from late May to mid-June. The flowers are axillary, dioecious, on short pedicels. Petals are greenish-white. The fruit is a drupe of bright red color, spherical in shape, which hold on to branches all winter.