The The The Indians of Paraguay have used Stevia for centuries. Europeans first learned of Stevia when the Spanish Conquistadors of the sixteenth century sent word to Spain that the natives of South America had used the plant. Stevia is a fairly unassuming perennial shrub of the aster family (Asteraceae), native to the northern regions of South America. It is now being grown in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Central America, the United States, Israel, Thailand and China. Alcohol free.