Clinopodium douglasii, (synonym Micromeria douglasii),[4] yerba buena,[5] or Oregon tea[6] is a rambling aromatic herb of western and northwestern North America, ranging from British Columbia southwards to Southern California and from the Pacific coast eastwards to western Montana.

The inner flower, found under the upper "lip" of the corolla, consists of 2 fused styles with a 2-lobed stigma and 4 exserted stamens arranged in 2 pairs.

[5][6][13][14] There is also a single collection of C. douglasii reported from Juneau, Alaska,[15] but this is thought to be the result of an introduction,[16] and this species is not otherwise found that far north.

[5] Clinopodium douglasii was widely used by the indigenous peoples of California and the Pacific Northwest Coast, generally in the form of a tea, both as a medicine and as a beverage.

In 1835, the civilian pueblo of Yerba Buena was founded on the shores of the cove, which would later grow into the American city of San Francisco.

In 1816, the Rurik expedition visited San Francisco and its chief botanist, Adelbert von Chamisso, made the first scientific collections of this species.

While Kuntze argued that the name Clinopodium had priority due to its use by pre-Linnean authors, Briquet's classification system proved more popular with later taxonomists.

[46] New discoveries of Lamiaceae species through the 20th century that did not fit well into Bentham's generic concepts led to more plant taxonomists (particularly in North America) embracing the broader genus concept of Satureja by the latter half of the 20th century, and use of the name Satureja douglasii for this species overwhelmingly predominated in field guides and regional floras as a result.

[48] In 1995, Philip D. Cantino and Steven J. Wagstaff, carried out the first molecular phylogenetic tree that included this species, based on a restriction site analysis.

The polyphyletic nature of Clinopodium was acknowledged, but no further name changes were recommended until systematic nomenclatural work was carried out on this complex group.

[52] In the 2010s, further molecular phylogenetic work on the subtribe Menthinae by Bryan T. Drew and Kenneth J. Sytsma using various chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences more clearly resolved the cladistic structure of this group and the relationships of Clinopodium douglasii.

This species was used by native groups throughout its range of occurrence, from Southern California to western British Columbia, both as a beverage and a medicine.

[25][26] The herb was also used as a medicine, particularly as a treatment for colds and fevers, for abdominal pain and colic, and as a "blood purifier" or as "good for the kidneys".

[24][59] Prepared in the form of a strong decoction or infused in goat's milk, yerba buena was used as an anthelmintic by the Rumsen and Mutsen Ohlone and the Chumash, as well as by Mission Indians and Californios in the Central Coast area of California.