Naming
In her book on herbs of the southwestern USA, Dr. Soule discusses the common name. "''Yerba mansa'' is one of those names which confounds linguists. ''Yerba'' is Spanish for herb, and thus one would think that ''mansa'' is also from Spanish as well, but all indications point to the fact that it is not. ''Mansa'' means tame, peaceful, calm in Spanish, and the plant has no sedative effect, nor did local people ever use it as a calming agent. Its primary use is as an antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antifungal. The most likely explanation is that mansa is a Spanish alteration of the original native word for the plant, now lost in the depths of time." Hartweg, who collected it at León, Guanajuato in 1837, recorded the local name as '. It is also known as ''yerba del manso'' in northern Baja California. The word "manso" could be short for "remanso" which would agree with the areas where the plant thrives.
Habitat
It is native to southwestern North America in northwest Mexico and the Southwestern United States from California to Oklahoma and Texas to Kansas to Oregon.
Cultural
* In the deserts of California, yerba mansa is being used as turf in public parks and ground cover in gardens.References:
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