Stevia lucida

Stevia lucida is a perennial herb or subshrub of the family Asteraceae, distributed from Mexico and Central America south through northern and northwestern Venezuela, where it grows in open woodland, scrub and disturbed slopes. It forms erect, somewhat woody-based stems usually under a metre tall, often glandular and sticky, bearing opposite, lance-shaped to ovate leaves with toothed margins and a glossy or resinous surface. The small flower heads are grouped into flattish terminal clusters; each narrow cylindrical head contains only a few white to pale pinkish tubular florets enclosed by a single series of involucral bracts, in the manner typical of the genus Stevia. The fruit is a slender ribbed achene crowned by a pappus of scales or short bristles. In Mexican and northern South American folk usage the plant is known by names such as yerba del aire and hierba de la arana, and the leafy aerial parts are the portion gathered for medicinal preparations.