''Ilex theezans'', also ''I. theæzans'' and ''I. theazans'', is a species of the genus ''

Ilex ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The speci ...

'' in the family

Aquifoliaceae ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

, native to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and typically found in its

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...

. It is sometimes used as an adulterant of maté and sometimes confused with the

yerba maté Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus '' Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The leav ...

(''I. paraguarensis''). In Brazil, it is sometimes called ''orelha-de-mico''; but is more often simply known as ''congonha'' ("holly") or ''caúna'' (along with '' I. dumosa''. The

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

includes the

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

''I. theezans hieronymiana''; the

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''I. theezans'' var. ''acrodonta'', ''augusti'', ''fertilis'', ''gracilior'', ''grandifolia'', ''leptopylla'', ''pachypylla'', ''typica'', and ''warmingiana''; and the

forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...

''I. theezans'' f. ''glabra'' and ''puberula''.

References

theezans Endemic flora of Brazil Flora of the Atlantic Forest Taxa named by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius {{Ilex-stub