Yerba Buena

Description:

The plant's most common name is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena (meaning "good herb"). It is an herb of the mint family and used as herbal medicine worldwide.

Habitat:

Yerba Buena typically occurs in moist habitats, including stream sides and drainage ditches. Being a hybrid, it is usually sterile, producing no seeds and reproducing only vegetatively, spreading by its rhizomes.

Notes:

Before its medicinal value has been recognized, Yerba Buena was first used as an ingredient in numerous cuisines. It became popular because of its distinctively strong spearmint flavor, thus making it ideal for salads. The leaves are the source of this flavor, and they may be added to viands and meals, either raw or cooked. It has also been effective to drive away rats and other rodents, because of its strong smell of mint that it emits.