Yerba Buena

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For other uses of the term Yerba Buena see Yerba Buena (disambiguation).

Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii) is a sprawling aromatic herb of the western and northwestern United States, western Canada and Alaska. Another local name for this plant is Oregon tea, referring to its use as both a medicinal and refreshing tea in Oregon. Its name, an alternate form of hierba buena, which means "good herb" was given it by the Spanish priests of California.

What is now San Francisco, California was originally named Yerba Buena by its Spanish settlers in the 18th century because of the abundance of the herb in the area. When the town was captured by the Americans in 1846 during the Mexican-American war, it was re-named San Francisco.

The name remains for an island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay that is connected to Treasure Island and serves as an anchor for the Bay Bridge.

Other herbs called Yerba Buena

The term "Yerba Buena" refers to the particular local species of mint in Latin America, which varies from region to region. The term has been (and is currently) used by the Mexican culture (in Southern territories) to define an herb used for medicinal purposes, usually Mentha spicata or Mentha viridis, otherwise known as Spearmint, rather than Clinopodium. In Cuba, yerba buena refers to a herb known as large apple mint, foxtail mint, hairy mint, woolly mint or Cuban mint (Mentha nemorosa).

References

http://www.cnps-yerbabuena.org/rare_yerba_buena.html

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