Lepidium meyenii is more commonly called Maca. Maca has been used in traditional medicine in South America, where it grows, for musch of recorded history, and the colonisers of the area (Spanish) also used the plant medicinally. Maca is concentrated in the high cordilleras of central Peru where it grows at between 3500 to 4000 meters above sea level. Maca comprises a central rosette above ground with between twelve and twenty leaves, elliptical in outline. There is a continuous production of new leaves at the centre of the rosette, and the outer leaves turn brown and dry. Below ground there is a thick strong root and the cells of the root are rich in starch. Maca is commercially planted on the mountain slopes and harvested for its roots after the frost has killed the plants. The plants are then cleaned and dried in the sun. The roots when dried may be kept for many years and retain their potency. Maca is thought to provide significant improvements in physical performance and may also increase labido in men.
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