2 Weeks with 20 Time

Two weeks already?!? Oh how time flies.

In the last two weeks, I've spent my time researching the Yerba buena plant and its medicinal uses, and publishing a post about the more interesting and helpful things I have discovered.

I learned that the Yerba buena plant has been used for everything from bug bites to toothaches, and that it is actually very effective. Unfortunately, although the research I've found is fascinating, there is no real way to test it. Alternative forms of medicine have always intrigued me, but they're only really useful or testable when someone is sick, which I am (fortunately) not. I decided to take their word for it, and rely on the research of other for this last post.

Next, I would love to look into the medicinal uses of some California native berries. That will hopefully be more accessible than the Yerba Buena mint, and hopefully tastier.

See you in 2 weeks!
       ~ Emily

Yerba Buena = Uber Bueno

The first plant I've researched is the Yerba buena plant (Clinopodium douglasii). The great thing about this plant is that, although it is incredibly abundant on the California coast, it grows naturally world-wide.

Yerba buena is a perennial plant of the mint family. The flowers are often a light blue or light purple and hairy. It is often used in cooking for its minty flavor.


The Yerba buena plant has an incredibly wide scope of medicinal uses, including:

• Pain Relief: YB contains menthol which has the ability to stimulate the cold-sensitive receptors in the skin. This essentially is the chemical equivalent of icing a sore muscle. YB can relieve headaches, stomachaches, toothaches, and soreness related to rheumatism and arthritis.
• For headaches, stomachaches and toothaches, any store-bought Yerba buena tea is very effective.
• For rheumatism or arthritis, it may be better to crush up the leaves and massage the pulp and sap onto the areas in pain.
• Stomachaches: YB, like other mints, stimulates the flow of bile and soothes internal organs. In this way it will also help gas pains.
• Use a Yerba buena tea to soothe stomachaches.
• Cold and Cough Relief:  YB acts as an expectorant which means is helps drain mucus from the lungs. This mucus also lubricates the throat to soothe coughs.
• Again, a brewed Yerba buena tea is the most effective way to use the plant for coughs or colds.
• Toothaches: YB can soothe pain in the mouth the same way it soothes muscle pains.
• For sore gums or toothaches, boil yerba buena leaves in water for about 20-30 minutes and gargle the solution after it cools.
• If you do not have the plant, put a few lightly soak a cotton ball in YB extract and place on the part of your mouth that hurts.

Thank you for reading!!
              ~  Emily

Who? What? When? Where? And Why?

Hello!!!

Basically the purpose of this blog is to culminate the information I research  and share it with anyone interested in learning a little botany.

I was first intrigued by plants and their natural healing powers by the book Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. In the novel, the main character is considered something of a healer because she has this really extensive knowledge of plants.

Then, I was interested in drought resistant plants because where I live, we are experiencing a serious drought. My parents are very environmentally conscientious so they decided to redo our yard with California native, drought resistant plants.

For one of my science classes, my teacher introduced a 20% time project. For this project, we are encouraged to spend 20% of our class time working on a "passion project", or something we are genuinely interested in.

So for my 20% time project I will be answering this question:

• What are the medicinal uses of California native plants?

I would ideally like to extensively research my topic and publish a book about it, but for now I will start with once weekly blog posts.

My goal for this blog is to describe the positive physiological effects that plants native to any California backyard have on our bodies. I want to do this, but also make it understandable and clear to anyone interested whether they have previous knowledge of plants and the human body or not.

I will post at least once a week about the type of plant I am researching until I am able to organize and culminate the information.

Until next week!
~E