Plant Name:  Yerba Santa

Botanical Name:  Eriodictyon trichocalyx

Native Name:  Tanwivel

Height/Physical Description:  5 feet in height and width.  Dark green, thick, sticky, leathery leaves.  White or pink flower clusters bloom in late Spring.

Use:  Medicine.  Considered “great medicine” among the Indians of California.  It was used to treat numerous conditions such as pneumonia, coughs, colds, sore throats, asthma, catarrh, pain reliever, tuberculosis and rheumatism.

Harvesting:  The leaves are harvested after the flowers have bloomed and dried.  

Preparation:  The leaves can be used fresh or dried to add to boiling water and a sweetener (such as honey) to make a tea. The fresh leaves were also pounded and placed on sore limbs.  For later use, the leaves were made into bundles and hung upside down to dry.