Yerba Buena
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Yerba buena | ||||||||||||||
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| Clinopodium douglasii (Benth.) Kuntze |
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Micromeria chamissonis (Benth.) Greene |
Yerba buena (Clinopodium douglasii) is a sprawling aromatic herb of western and northwestern North America, ranging from maritime Alaska southwards to Baja California Sur.[1] The plant takes the form of a sprawling, mat-forming perennial, and is especially abundant close to the coast.[2]
[edit] Name
The plant's mostly common name, the same in English and Spanish, is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena (meaning "good herb"). The name was bestowed by pioneer Catholic priests of Alta California as they settled an area where the plant is native. It was so abundant there that its name was also applied to the settler's town adjacent to Mission San Francisco de Asís. In 1846 Yerba Buena was seized by the United States during the Mexican-American War and its name was changed to San Francisco after the nearby mission in 1847. Three years later the town's name was applied to a nearby rocky island; today millions of commuters drive through the tunnel on Yerba Buena Island that connects the spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
[edit] Other plants known as Yerba buena
In general in most Spanish speaking countries, the term "yerba buena" refers to the particular local species of mint, which varies from region to region. The term has been (and is currently) used to cover a number of aromatic true mints and mint relatives of the genera Satureja or Clinopodium. All plants so named have medicinal properties, and some have culinary value as teas or seasonings as well.
The specific plant species regarded as "yerba buena" varies from region to region depending on what grows wild in the surrounding landscape or which species is customarily grown in local gardens, but perhaps the most common plant so called (besides Clinopodium douglasii) is spearmint, Mentha spicata.
In parts of Central America the term often refers to Mentha citrata, a true mint sometimes called "bergamot mint" with a strong citrus-like aroma that is used as both medicinally and as a cooking herb and tea. In Cuba, yerba buena generally refers to Mentha nemorosa, a popular plant also known as large apple mint, foxtail mint, hairy mint, woolly mint or, simply, Cuban mint. In Puerto Rico a close relative of traditional culinary savory, Satureja viminea, is sometimes used. In Peru the name is sometimes applied to a shrubby aromatic marigold, Tagetes minuta also known as huacatay or "black mint"; in this case, despite some similarities of flavor, the herb in question is in the Sunflower family and is quite unrelated to any of the mints or mint-relatives with which it shares a name.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ PLANTS Profile for Clinopodium douglasii (yerba buena) (html). NRCS PLANTS database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ Wood, Michael (2003-09-01). Focus on Rarities, Yerba Buena Chapter, CNPS (Satureja douglasii) (html). CNPS Yerba Buena Chapter website. California Native Plant Society. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. “Website structure doesn't require navigation to the linked index page and then selection of the 'Yerba buena' article”
- ^ Huacatay - Ingredient - CHOW (html). CHOW food and entertainment website. CNET Networks. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
