the trunk has a light gray color and its ribbed leaves are pale or dark green - the harvest of leaves is a delicate process, which is done in a carefully branch by branch. 

both the leaves and young shoots are used in the preparation of a tea that is named according to its preparation - mate is made with hot water, chimarrão, cold water, ice and one's choice of sweetener.

additionally, mate com limão, or mate with lemon is also another version that can be seen in rio de janeiro, typically mixed with lemonade - the exact measurement's to get the mixture right is up to one's preference, but half lemonade and half mate should do the trick.