Yerba buena (Micromeria douglasii) is a rambling aromatic herb of western and northwestern North America, ranging from maritime Alaska southwards to Baja California Sur. The plant takes the form of a sprawling, mat-forming perennial, and is especially abundant close to the coast.

The plant's most common name, the same in English and Spanish, is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena (meaning "good herb"). The name was bestowed by pioneer Catholic priests of Alta California as they settled an area where the plant is native. It was so abundant there that its name was also applied to the settler's town adjacent to Mission San Francisco de Asís. In 1846, the town of Yerba Buena was seized by the United States during the Mexican-American War, and its name was changed in 1847 to San Francisco, after a nearby mission. Three years later, the name was applied to a nearby rocky island; today millions of commuters drive through the tunnel on Yerba Buena Island that connects the spans of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.

Yerba Buena Island sits in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, California. The Yerba Buena Tunnel runs through its center and connects the western and eastern spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. It has had several other names over the decades: Sea Bird Island, Wood Island, and Goat Island. The island is named after the town of Yerba Buena, which was named for the plant of the same name that was abundant in the area. The plant's English and Spanish common name, Yerba buena, is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena (literally meaning "good herb"), generally used to describe local species of the mint family.

The island is currently part of District 6 of the City and County of San Francisco. According to the United States Census Bureau, Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island together have a land area of 2.334 km² (0.901 sq mi) with a total population of 2,500 as of the 2010 census.

Today the land southeast of the Yerba Buena Tunnel belongs to the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The USCG Sector San Francisco - Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) tower is located on the peak of the island. The USCG Sector San Francisco headquarters base is located at water-level on the southeast coast of the island. During the summer 2011, the Department of Homeland Security-USCG opened the new Interagency Operations Center (IOC) on the Sector San Francisco Base. The IOC houses the VTS and the USCG Sector San Francisco Command Center together in one building.