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Species of flowering plant From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clinopodium douglasii, (synonym Micromeria douglasii),[1] yerba buena,[4] or Oregon tea[5] is a rambling aromatic herb of western and northwestern North America, ranging from British Columbia southwards to Southern California and from the Pacific coast eastwards to western Montana.[6][7] The plant takes the form of a sprawling, mat-forming perennial.[8] The name "yerba buena" derives from Spanish for "good herb" and is applied to various other plants.
 | This article is missing information about the historical taxonomy, phylogenetics, ecological relationships, ethnobotany, and several other important aspects of this plant species. (November 2024) |
| Clinopodium douglasii | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Genus: | Clinopodium |
| Species: | C. douglasii |
| Binomial name | |
| Clinopodium douglasii | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
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Clinopodium douglasii is a decumbent perennial herb. Leaves are in an opposite arrangement along the stem, and each leaf is subtended by a petiole, is relatively small in size, and ovate to almost triangular in shape, with the leaf margin being shallowly toothed. Flowers occur at the leaf axils, and are solitary (occasionally a cluster of 2-3 flowers) on a short pedicel. The flower consists of a tubular calyx that subtends a lobed, bilaterally symmetrical, labiate corolla typical of the mint family, white to lavender in color, and typically 3-8 millimeters in length. The inner flower, found under the upper "lip" of the corolla, consists of 2 fused styles with a 2-lobed stigma and 4 exserted stamens arranged in 2 pairs. The fruit is a tiny nutlet with a smooth surface.[4] The leaves and other parts of the plant are strongly aromatic and have a minty odor.[8]
Clinopodium douglasii was widely used by the indigenous peoples of California and the Pacific Northwest Coast, generally in the form of a tea, both as a medicine and as a beverage. Ethnobotanical records of use of the plant are recorded among many indigenous peoples ranging from the Saanich of British Columbia to the Kumeyaay of southern California.[9][10][11] Later Spanish- and English-speaking settlers learned of the uses of this plant from native peoples and incorporated it into their own folk medicine traditions.[12][13] Spanish missionaries gave the name yerba buena or hierba buena (good herb) to the plant,[12][14] a Spanish common name for spearmint and other edible mints.
The herb has had a long association with the history of San Francisco. In 1776, Pedro Font, the Franciscan chaplain of the de Anza Expedition, noted the abundance of hierba buena around the expedition's encampment at Mountain Lake, near to the Presidio of San Francisco, for which the expedition was tasked with finding a site.[14] In the Spanish and Mexican eras of San Francisco, the undeveloped northwestern corner of San Francisco, where the plant was abundant, was given the name El Paraje de Yerba Buena (Place of the Yerba Buena). The area included Yerba Buena Cove, a favored anchorage, and the name was later extended to the Isla de la Yerba Buena (Yerba Buena Island), which faced the cove. In 1835, the civilian pueblo of Yerba Buena was founded on the shores of the cove, which would later grow into the American city of San Francisco.[15][16] "Yerba Buena" is still used for many place names in the San Francisco area.
In 1816, the Rurik expedition visited San Francisco and its chief botanist, Adelbert von Chamisso, made the first scientific collections of this species.[17] These botanical specimens were eventually sent to George Bentham, a botanist specializing in the mint family, who published the species name in 1831, initially recognizing the samples as belonging to two related but different species, Thymus Chamissonis (named for von Chamisso) and Thymus Douglasii (named in honor of David Douglas).[17][18] In 1834, Bentham transferred the species to Micromeria and merged the two species under the name Micromeria Douglassii.[19][Note 1]
In 2010, molecular evidence placed the species within the Clinopodium complex rather than Micromeria.[20] As of November 2024[update], Plants of the World Online continued to place the species in the genus Micromeria,[1] though databases such as the Jepson Herbarium eFlora,[4] iNaturalist,[21] Calflora,[22] and the USDA PLANTS Database[6] place the species in Clinopodium.
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2024) |
The Pomo people of Potter Valley northeast California infuse its leaves (called ma ca kau') for a kind of tea beverage.[23]
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