Yerba Santa Leaf
Spp. Eriodictyon californicum
Fam. Hydrophyllaceae
Warming, sweet, bitter and drying. Expectorant, bronchodilator, antimicrobial, carminative.
Yerba Santa has a particular taste- simultaneously bitter and sweet. Traditionally it has been used as an expectorant for phlegm, and was used in cough, cold, and flu formulas, as well as for asthma and hay fever. It is said to help stimulate digestion as well. Some have used it externally for relieving itchiness from poison oak and ivy.
Wildharvested and kosher