Where did Stevia come from?

A sweet plant was discussed by Charles Darwin in conversations at the Royal Astromonical Society circa 1853.

Apparently on one of Darwin's last travels in South America, he found a sweet tasting herbacious plant in the Guarani valley which is on the border of Brazil and Paraguay.

Circa 1890 Moises Bertoni following Darwin's path in search of this sweet plant. Stevia got its name when Moises was asking where the plant was. They responsed by saying 'esta via', meaning over there. Hence the name as we know it 'Stevia'.

Moises' son Antonio from 1909 to 1929 identified and catalogued 318 species of the Stevia plant.