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| ## vinegarweed {#vinegarweed .Title-Header}                           |
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| *Trichostema lanceolatum* Benth.                                      |
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| Plant Symbol = TRLA4                                                  |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center

### ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="3.0236111111111112in" height="3.1034722222222224in"}

# Alternate Names

Blue-curls, camphor weed, romero, yerba del aigre, stink weed,
turpentine weed, wild rosemary

# Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: Vinegarweed is a medicinal herb that was highly valued
by the Salinan, Ohlone, Miwok, and many other California Indian tribes
who continue to use it today. In the past, the herb was so important
that the Salinan used vinegarweed as "money" in trade with the Yokuts
and other California tribes (Heinsen 1972).

The strongly aromatic leaves and flowers were used fresh or dried to
make infusions of varying strengths to treat a myriad of maladies. A
decoction or tea made from the leaves and flowers was taken to treat
colds, stomachaches, headaches, ague, bladder problems, and malaria.
Vinegarweed tea was gargled to treat inflammation of the throat. The
steam from hot infusions was sniffed into the nasal passages to treat
colds, coughs, headaches, and nose bleeds. Sitting over a steaming
decoction of the leaves treated uterine trouble.

The raw or boiled leaves were crushed into a poultice to treat wounds.
Ground leaves were rubbed on the face and chest of persons with colds or
any place on the skin where there was pain (Bocek 1984). Leaf decoctions
were applied to infected sores, smallpox lesions, and other skin
eruptions. Vinegarweed was steeped in water and used as a bath to
prevent smallpox and ague. Chewed leaves were stuffed in or around an
aching tooth.

The Kawaiisu tribe made a nonmedicinal drink from the leaves (Zigmond
1981). The aromatic leaves and stems were crushed and placed in bedding
to repel fleas.

The Salinan was among those California tribes that used vinegarweed to
aid in catching fish. The fisherman would strategically build dams in
rivers and streams to trap the fish within small ponds. Then, mashed or
powdered plants were thrown into the water with the fish. After the
plants were added, the fish would become sluggish and easier to catch in
the fishermen's nets or sieves made of willow. Numerous reasons have
been offered for this reaction including that the fish were either
poisoned (Moerman 1998), their gills clogged (Murphey 1959), or that the
plants affected the oxygen in the water (Heinzen 1972).

*Wildlife:* Vinegarweed is an important bee plant (Jepson 1911).

# Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status (e.g. threatened or endangered
species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

##### 

# Description

######## General: Mint family (Lamiaceae). Vinegarweed is an annual forb or herb native to California and Oregon. Vinegarweed is named for its pungent medicinal odor that can be detected over long distances. 

######## 

######## The plants range from 1 to 10 dm with branches arising from the base. The thin, lance-shaped leaves are 2 to 7 cm long. The leaves are dotted with glands that produce the strong somewhat sour odor. The pale blue to lavender flowers grow from the leaf axils along one side of the top of the unbranched stems. The flowers are slender tubes, 5 to 10 mm long, with five lobes and long arched stamens (13 to 20 mm) that protrude out of the flower. The seeds are four tiny nutlets that are joined at the base. The seeds germinate with the rains, but begin to grow in earnest only after the rainy season has ended. The plants bloom from late June or July until November. 

*Distribution*: Vinegarweed occurs from northern Oregon to the northern
Baja along the Pacific Coast Ranges. It grows in dry, open fields and
roadsides below 1000 meters. For current distribution, please consult
the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

*Habitat*: Vinegarweed is found in dry, open areas and disturbed
habitats. Vinegarweed is an early seral component of coastal sage scrub,
chaparral, and oak woodland communities.

# Adaptation

Vinegarweed is xerophytic and adapted to the dry, rainless summers of
California's Mediterranean climate.

# Establishment

The seeds ripen in the late fall and collected seeds can be planted
immediately or stored. Be sure to thoroughly dry the seeds before
storing. Placing them in a sunny well-ventilated place can dry the
seeds. To store, place the seeds into an airtight container and store
them in a cool, dark place.

Sow the seeds in the late fall or early spring. Prepare a seedbed that
receives full sun and in an area that is well drained. Broadcast the
seeds and lightly rake them into the soil. Tamp the soil snuggly over
the seeds. If planting the seeds in the spring, gently sprinkle the sown
bed with water and keep it lightly moist until the seedlings are
established. Once established, vinegarweed is very drought resistant and
will not tolerate frequent watering.

# Cultivars, Improved, and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

The Salinan and other California tribes used the closely related
perennial shrub, *Trichostema lanatum* (wooly blue curls or California
rosemary) for many of the same purposes as vinegarweed. *T. lanatum*
resembles rosemary (*Rosmarinus* spp.) and is a lovely addition to the
garden. There are two cultivars of *T. lanatum* ("Lion Den" and Salmon
Creek") that have been developed by the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum (Rogers
2001). Both cultivars are from cuttings taken in the Santa Lucia
Mountains.

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

# References

##### Barrett, S.A. & E.W. Gifford 1933. *Miwok material culture: Indian life of the Yosemite region.* Bulletin of Milwaukee Public Museum Vol. 2, No. 4. Yosemite Association, Yosemite National Park, California. 388 pp.

##### Bocek, B.R. 1984. *Ethnobotany of Costanoan Indians, California, based on collections by John P. Harrington.* Economic Botany, Vol. 38, No. 2. Pp. 240-255. 

##### 

##### Heinsen, V. 1972. *Mission San Antonio de Padua* *Herbs: Medicinal herbs of early days*. Third edition. Lockwood, California. 142pp.

Heizer, R.F. & A.B. Elsasser 1980. *The natural world of the California
Indians*. University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles,
California. 271 pp.

##### 

##### Hewlett, W.R. 1999. *Trichostema lanceolatum*. California Academy of Sciences. Digital Library Project, University of California, Berkeley. \[Online\]. Available: http://www.calflora.org. Accessed \[15 December 2001\].

Jepson, W. L. 1911. *A flora of western middle California*. Second
Edition. Cunningham, Curtiss & Welch, San Francisco, Califorina. 515 pp.

Lewis, H. 1993. *Trichostema, Blue Curls.* In: J.D. Hickman, Editor.
*The Jepson manual: Higher plants of California.* University of
California Press, Berkeley, California. Pp. 732-733.

Moerman, D.E. 1998. *Native American ethnobotany*. Timber Press,
Portland, Oregon. 927 pp.

Moerman, D.E. 1999. *Native American Ethnobotany Database: Foods, drugs,
dyes and fibers of native North American Peoples. The University of
Michigan-Dearborn.* \[Online\]. Available:

<http://www.umd.umich.edu/cgi-bin/herb>

##### \[6January2002\].

Munz, P.A. & D.D. Keck 1963. *A California flora.* University of
California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles, California. 1681 pp.

Murphey, E.V.A. 1959. *Indian uses of native plants.* Mendocino County
Historical Society, Fort Bragg, California. 81 pp.

Rogers, D. 2001. *Romero or wooly blue curls.* The Double Cone
Quarterly. Vol. IV, No. 2 \[Online\]. Available:
<http://www.ventanawild.org/news/ss01/romero.html> \[15December2001\].

Wallace, W.J. 1978. *Southern ValleyYokuts* in *Handbook of North
American Indians, Vol. 8, California*, R.F. Heizer, Ed. Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C. Pp448-461.

Zigmond, M.L. 1981. *Kawaiisu ethnobotany.* University of Utah Press,
Salt Lake City, Utah. 102 pp.

# Prepared By: 

######## Diana L. Immel

Formerly USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o Environmental
Horticulture Department, University of California, Davis, California

# Species Coordinator: 

##### *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o

##### Plant Sciences Department, University of California, Davis, California 

##### 

##### Edited: 29jan03 jsp; 04jun03 ahv; 060818 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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