Micromeria douglasii | |
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Group of plants | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Lamiaceae |
Genus: | Micromeria |
Species: | M. douglasii |
Binomial name | |
Micromeria douglasii | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Micromeria douglasii, synonym Clinopodium douglasii, [2] or yerba buena, [3] is a rambling aromatic herb of western and northwestern North America, ranging from maritime Alaska southwards to California. [4] The plant takes the form of a sprawling, mat-forming perennial, and is especially abundant close to the coast. [5] The name "yerba buena" derives from Spanish for "good herb" and is applied to various other plants. In 2010, molecular evidence placed the species within the Clinopodium complex rather than Micromeria . [6]
The plant's most common name, "yerba buena", the same in English and Spanish, is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena (meaning "good herb"). The name was bestowed by Catholic missionaries of Alta California after native people introduced them to it. It was so abundant there that its name was also applied to the settler's town adjacent to Mission San Francisco de Asís as well as to the cove along San Francisco Bay upon which it was situated. The prominent island directly in front of the settlement also came to be called Isla Yerba Buena at least as early as 1833, [7] although it is not certain whether it was named for the settlement, the cove or directly for the herb.
In 1846, the town of Yerba Buena was seized by the United States during the Mexican–American War. Its name was changed in 1847 to San Francisco. As of March 2015, some 270,000 vehicles commuters drive daily through the tunnel on Yerba Buena Island that connects the spans of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. [8]
Yerba buena is also used as a common name for other plants with aromatic foliage and in particular, for various old world mints. The native Micromeria douglasii has a fragrance similar to spearmint.
Satureja is a genus of aromatic plants of the family Lamiaceae, related to rosemary and thyme. It is native to North Africa, southern and southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. A few New World species were formerly included in Satureja, but they have all been moved to other genera. Several species are cultivated as culinary herbs called savory, and they have become established in the wild in a few places.
Yerba Buena Island sits in San Francisco Bay within the borders of the City and County of San Francisco. The Yerba Buena Tunnel runs through its center and connects the western and eastern spans of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, linking the city with Oakland, California. Treasure Island is connected by a causeway to Yerba Buena Island. According to the United States Census Bureau, Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island together have a land area of 0.901 square miles (2.33 km2) with a total population of 2,500 as of the 2010 census.
Yerba Buena Gardens is the name for two blocks of public parks located between Third and Fourth, Mission and Folsom Streets in the South of Market (SoMA) neighbourhood of San Francisco, California. The first block bordered by Mission and Howard Streets was opened on October 11, 1993. The second block, between Howard and Folsom Streets, was opened in 1998, with a dedication to Martin Luther King Jr. by Mayor Willie Brown. A pedestrian bridge over Howard Street connects the two blocks, sitting on top of part of the Moscone Center convention center. The Yerba Buena Gardens were planned and built as the final centerpiece of the Yerba Buena Redevelopment Area which includes the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy operates the property on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco.
Limnanthes douglasii is a species of annual flowering plant in the family Limnanthaceae (meadowfoam) commonly known as Douglas' meadowfoam or poached egg plant. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows in wet, grassy habitat, such as vernal pools and spring meadows. It can grow in poorly drained clay soils. The plant was collected by the Scottish explorer and botanist David Douglas, who worked on the west coast of America in the 1820s.
Yerba buena is a Spanish term meaning "good herb". It may refer to
Monardella is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for herbal teas. The two-lipped, tubular flowers are formed in terminal clusters and are most usually red, pink, or purple.
Clinopodium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. It is in the tribe Mentheae of the subfamily Nepetoideae, but little else can be said with certainty about its phylogenetic position.
Eriodictyon californicum is a species of plant within the family Boraginaceae. It is also known as yerba santa, mountain balm, bear's weed, gum bush, gum plant, and consumptive weed. Less common names include Herbe des Montagnes, Herbe à Ourse, Herbe Sacrée, Herbe Sainte, Hierba Santa, Holy Herb, and Tarweed.
The monotypic genus Anemopsis has only one species, Anemopsis californica, with the common names yerba mansa or lizard tail.
Micromeria is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, widespread across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, with a center of diversity in the Mediterranean region and the Canary Islands. It is sometimes placed within the genus Satureja. The name is derived from the Greek words μῑκρος (mīkros), meaning "small," and μερίς (meris), meaning "portion," referring to the leaves and flowers. Common names include savory and whitweed.
Pogogyne is a small genus of flowering plants in the mint family known generally as mesamints or mesa mints. They are native to Oregon, Idaho, California, and Baja California.
Yerba Buena was the original name of the settlement that later became San Francisco. Located near the northeastern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, between the Presidio of San Francisco and the Mission San Francisco de Asís, it was originally intended as a trading post for ships visiting San Francisco Bay. The settlement was arranged in the Spanish style around a plaza that remains as the present day Portsmouth Square.
Lepechinia ganderi is a rare species of perennial shrub in the mint family known by the common name San Diego pitcher sage or Gander's pitcher sage. An aromatic plant with white to lavender flowers, this species is only known from southern San Diego County in California and a small portion of Baja California, occurring on chaparral or coastal sage scrub in metavolcanic soils. Because of its limited range, it is under threat from growing urbanization and increased fire frequency.
Artemisia palmeri is a rare species of sagebrush known by the common names San Diego sagewort and Palmer sagewort.
Chaenactis douglasii is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Douglas' dustymaiden.
Eriodictyon lobbii is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names Lobb's fiddleleaf and matted yerba santa. It is native to the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range chain in California and adjacent sections of Nevada and Oregon. It grows in high mountain habitat in dry areas on slopes and ridges.
Pogogyne douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names Douglas' mesamint and Douglas' beardstyle.
Clinopodium chandleri is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name San Miguel savory. It is native to northern Baja California and several areas of southern California, where it can be found in mountain chaparral. A fragrant plant with white flowers, it is one of southern California's rarest shrubs.
Clinopodium mimuloides is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name monkeyflower savory. It is endemic to California.
Yerba buena or hierba buena is the Spanish name for a number of aromatic plants, most of which belong to the mint family. Yerba buena translates as "good herb". 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. Perhaps the most common variation of this plant is spearmint. The term has been used to cover a number of aromatic true mints and mint relatives of the genera Clinopodium, Satureja or Micromeria. All plants so named are associated with medicinal properties, and some have culinary value as herbal teas or seasonings as well.
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