Yerba Santa monograph

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Yerba Santa

 

Eriodictyon californicum, E. tricocalyx, E. angustifolium, etc.

Hydrophyllaceae

Folium Eriodictyonis Californicus

Other Names: Mountain Balm

Botanical description and harvesting: Eriodictyon is a small genus of 9

species in the Western US and Northern Mexico. Most species are used,

however the species with the most resin (see those listed above) are most

useful. Of those species, E. californicum is the species usually found in

commerce, was used extensively in American medical practice through most of

the 19th Century, and remains the most widely used species in modern

herbalism. Although I have personally grown fond of E. tricocalyx after

living in San Diego, described here is E. californicum.

Yerba Santa is widely spread from the southern Sierra Nevada, north into

the Cascade Range of southern Oregon and west along that line to the coastal

ranges from 60m in the northern part of its range all the way to 1900m in

the Southern Sierra Nevada. It is most frequent in the Northern California

ranges, covering vast acreage. Yerba Santa is generally found in the open

and prefers slopes with rocky or gravely soils. It is a frequent site on

dirt roads traversing through the internal forests of Northern California

and Southern Oregon.

Yerba Santa is a large (1-3m) sparse perennial shrub with all portions of

the tender plant, especially the leaves, being shiny and sticky. The

lanceolate to oblong leaves have but only a short pediole and are 4-15cm

long and less than 5cm wide. Shiny and sticky on top and with a network of

hairs between the veins on the underside, the leaves can be either toothed

or entire, but the margin is rolled under. The flowers are white to purple,

tubular shaped from 8-17mm long.

The leaves of Yerba Santa are gathered in the spring and early summer when

tender and lush, avoiding the older crusty leaves. The leaves are dried,

being careful to keep them somewhat separate, for later use or tinctured

fresh. Good quality is dark green, resinous with a somewhat sweet smell and

free of stems and flowers.

Qi and Flavor: slightly warm, acrid, bitter, sweet

Organ Meridian Entering: lung, spleen

Actions: expectorant, digestive, decongestant, antiinflammatory

Functions & Indications: Transforms phlegm and downbears lung qi for

patterns such as phlegm-damp obstructing the lung with coughing copious

white sputum, chest oppression and difficulty breathing. Also for phlegm

glomus.

Warms yang and transforms rheum for symptoms such as loss of appetite,

chronic cough, panting, fullness of the chest, phlegm in the stool with or

without diarrhea and expectoration of copious white, possibly frothy,

sputum.

Courses the exterior, dissipates wind and diffuses the lung qi for sniveling

nose of any etiology with clear or white phlegm, watery eyes and sneezing.

Also used externally as a wash for cuts, scrapes, rashes and itching.

Cautions: Use caution in yin vacuity.

Dosage and Preparation: 3-9g in decoction, 2-4ml in tincture. Yerba Santa is

useful as a tea or tincture although I prefer the fresh plant tincture. The

tincture has a warmer nature and is better for transforming phlegm/rheum.

Major combinations: Combine with Grindelia for cough with panting and

asthma, this combination is also good for rashes due to poison oak or poison

ivy.

Combine with Wild Ginger and Yerba Mansa for copious clear runny nose.

Combine with Elecampane for cough with loss of appetite, weak limbs and

lethargy.

Commentary: Eriodictyon comes from the Greek " erion " meaning wool, for the

woolly underside of the leaf. The species name Californicum is owing to the

fact that, other than Southwestern Oregon, this species is endemic to

California. Yerba Santa is one of the few native California herbs enjoying

international acclaim. This plant is excellent as a decongestant and

secondarily as an expectorant for conditions involving both heat and cold

depending upon the other herbs in the formula. It is exceptional for

congestion in the lungs and nasal passages with a feeling of heaviness in

the head and fullness in the chest and especially good when the sputum is

copious and runny (cold). Yerba Santa increases salivation and is a

digestive stimulant. The Native Americans of Medocino County rolled leaves

into a ball and used the balls as a chew, it was said to make a person sweet

inside [Chesnut p 382]. The initial taste is bitter but this flavor gives

way to a peculiar sweet flavor. The initial bitter flavor stimulates the

flow of bile, the spicy sweet flavor increases saliva production and the

combination of these generally stimulates the digestive process.

Most of the Native Peoples within its range had many uses for this plant.

According to one source, the Miwok of the Western Sierra Nevada range used

the plant for colds, cough, rheumatism (both internal and external),

dermatological aid, gastrointestinal aid, and as an orthopedic aid.

 

 

 

 

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