LLARETA, GREEN PRODIGIOUS At 4,000 meters above sea level, the fertile and green World of the Andean valleys is transformed INTA a yellow blanket that looks towards the snow. It is the kingdom of the ichu and tola grass and vizcachas and cameloids, but above all it is the home of a winner of the evolutionary process: llareta. At first sight, llareta (Azorella yareta) looks like enormous moss stuck to a rock, but this is not the case. It grows in the form of a little pillow over flat land and it does this up to a meter high and at the average rate of one millimeter per year. Some examples of llareta this size are found close to the Colca Valley or in the Salinas Aguada Blanca reserve and it is included among the oldest plants in the world. With tiny flowers and a phosphorescent cover, the inside of the plant is dark and very compact and produces a flammable resin that is used frequently by the campesinos of the valleys to cook and light fires. The Andean man, who is very linked to plant life, has discovered dozens of medical uses. Aplaster or cream of llareta is good to calm the pain of rheumatism; chewing the resin solves every kind of bronchial ailment while a tea steeped from its leaves helps to control blood pressure and diabetes. Some Aymara indigenous people use it to fight obesity and as a dye for alpaca wool. Due to its depredation, the llareta is a plant protected by the state and its extraction is prohibited throughout the entire country; a deserved rest for a marvel of nature that only needs two things to live: time and solitude.