YahGarden

Herb library · Herb · Eriodictyon californicum

Yerba santa

A sticky-leaved shrub of California and northern Mexico whose Spanish name means "holy herb"; its old name Consumptive's weed points to use for chest complaints. The research in people is two small studies, on weight and on graying hair, with little to show.

Traditional use

Its old common names, Mountain balm and Consumptive's weed, point to its use for chest complaints. It entered American medicine in 1875 through California physicians and the Eclectic Medical Journal. Its fragrant, resin-coated leaves are the part used.

What studies show

  • Insufficient

    Weight: a 12-week placebo-controlled trial in 49 overweight and obese women tested a yerba santa extract; the published abstract does not report the size of any difference in weight, and its conclusion also draws on lab and worm (C. elegans) experiments.

  • Insufficient

    Graying hair: in a 2020 study applying extracts to people's beards and heads, a related species (E. angustifolium) reduced gray hairs, but E. californicum (the species on this page) did not.

  • Insufficient

    Coughs and chest complaints: no studies in people were found.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • NoteLittle is known about its safety; no side effects are described in the two studies found.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“This plant is generally known as Yerba santa (holy or sacred herb). It is shrubby, from 2 to 4 feet high, and is found growing in clumps, in dry situations throughout California, and northern Mexico, where it is very common in certain localities.”
Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd, King's American Dispensatory (1898), vol. 1, p. 727. See the page of King's American Dispensatory, vol. 1, p. 727 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from King's American Dispensatory, vol. 1, p. 727

Sources

  1. A Food Supplement with Antioxidative Santa Herba Extract Modulates Energy Metabolism and Contributes to Weight Management (2021) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Eriodictyon angustifolium extract, but not Eriodictyon californicum extract, reduces human hair greying (2020) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.