- Yerba Santa, also known as Mountain Balm, Consumptive’s Weed, Tarweed, Gum Bush, Bear’s Weed, and Holy Herb, is a small evergreen shrub indigenous to the dry hills of Southern California and Northern Mexico. The Natives smoked or chewed the leaves of Yerba Santa to help support shortness of breath. In fact, it is still used by herbal enthusiasts for bronchial congestion, shortness of breath and hayfever. There are many benefits to this herb. – Yerba Santa can quiet a nagging cough, help clear
