ArtAndes Blog

Yareta, a most fascinating Andean plant

Posted January 1, 2015 @ 10:45pm | by Melanie

Yareta is a tiny flowering plant in the Apiaceae family, commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, a group of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. Yareta is native to South America, occurring in the Puna grasslands above the treeline, over 10,000 ft. It extends from central Peru, across the Altiplano plateau of Bolivia, and south along the spine of the Andes into northern Argentina and Chile.
Yareta is an evergreen perennial and it can grow in nutritionally poor environments. The plant grows in a very compact way in order to reduce heat losses and very close to ground level. It's as hard as cement! The plant growth rate is approximately 1/2" per year. Many Yaretas are over 3,000 years old. It is traditionally harvested as fuel, but the slow growth makes that use non sustainable and is now on the endangered/protected list.
I can't wait to show off my favorite plant through my new magnifying glass to the next group of ArtAndes explorers, we'll be at the 'Yareta stop' Jan 29th!

 

 
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