SATUREJA DOUGLASII

FAMILY: LAMIACEAE
YERBA BUENA: San Francisco, California was first named Yerba buena (good herb) because this plant grew so prolifically on its hill sides. Now, of course, San Francisco has just asphalt, cement, houses and office buildings on its hills. Even so, I consider it one of the best cities in the USA. Through centuries of attempts at civilizing and acculturating its inhabitants, San Francisco has retained its frontier-town, Barbary Coast spirit and hasn’t succumbed to the inbred stagnation of many larger American cities.

San Francisco is the unofficial capital of Gay America, in spite of the all too evident bigotry expressed by things such as a freeway billboard reading “San Francisco, Home of Twinkiesâ„¢” (former San Francisco police officer, Dan White, murdered the first openly gay city supervisor, Harvey Milk, using as his defense, insanity because he had low blood sugar from eating too many Twinkiesâ„¢). There are many parts of SF that still remain free. There are many people in this town that still remain free.

The native Californians used this plant to purify the blood and to relieve colic. As a tea it was used to treat arthritis, and when mixed with mint, was used as a sedative for insomnia. It has a strong menthol taste. It is a creeper with small white flowers. For shady areas.