Common Name: White Horehound

General Information

Marrubium vulgare is a herbaceous perennial plant that can grow up to 50cm tall.
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials. It is sometimes grown commercially for medicinal use and is also grown in medicinal herb gardens.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Eurasia - Sweden to Britain and Portugal, through Turkey and the Caucasus to central Asia, western China. N. Africa - Macaronesia, Morocco to Libya

Habitat

Downs, waste places and roadsides southwards from central Scotland, though perhaps only native near the south coast of England[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	0.50 m
Pollinators	Bees, Self
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Marrubium vulgare is a very cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to around -35°c when fully dormant[].
White horehound is an easily grown plant that succeeds in most well-drained soils[], though it flourishes best in a poor dry soil[, ]. Another report says that the plant flourishes best where there is plenty of nitrogen in the soil[]. It prefers neutral to alkaline soil conditions[] and requires a warm sunny position if it is to do well[].
Often grown in the herb garden and sometimes cultivated commercially as a medicinal herb[, ]. If the plant is cut back after flowering it will normally produce a second crop of leaves[].
The fresh leaves have a pronounced musky smell, though this is lost once the plant is dried[].
A good bee plant[].

Edible Uses

The leaves are used as a seasoning[]. Bitter and pungent, they are sometimes used to flavour herb beer or liqueurs[, ]. Horehound ale is a fairly well-known drink made from the leaves[, ].
A mild pleasantly flavoured tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves[], it is a favourite cough remedy[, ].

Medicinal

White horehound is a well-known and popular herbal medicine that is often used as a domestic remedy for coughs, colds, wheeziness etc[, ]. The herb apparently causes the secretion of a more fluid mucous, readily cleared by coughing[].
The leaves and young flowering stems are antiseptic, antispasmodic, cholagogue, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, strongly expectorant, hepatic, stimulant and tonic[, , , , , ]. Horehound is a very valuable pectoral, expectorant and tonic that can be safely used by children as well as adults[]. It is often made into a syrup or candy in order to disguise its very bitter flavour, though it can also be taken as a tea[]. As a bitter tonic, it increases the appetite and supports the function of the stomach[]. It can also act to normalize heart rhythm[]. The plant is harvested as it comes into flower and can be used fresh or dried[].
The root is a remedy for the bite of rattlesnakes, it is used in equal portions with Plantago lanceolata or P. major[].

Agroforestry Uses:

White horehound is a good companion plant for growing near tomatoes[]. The tomatoes crop for a longer period and also produce a heavier crop[].

Other Uses

An essential oil is obtained from the plant and used as a flavouring in liqueurs[].

The plant has been used as a cure for cankerworm in trees[]. No more details are given but it is probably a strong infusion of the flowering shoots, or the essential oil, that is used[].

The growing plant repels flies[].

An extract of the plant is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a skin conditioner and soothing agent[].
An extract of the flowering stems is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a masking agent[].

Propagation

Seed - sow mid spring or mid summer to early autumn in a cold frame. Germination can be slow and erratic[]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in the following spring[].
Basal cuttings in late spring. Harvest the shoots with plenty of underground stem when they are about 8 - 10cm above the ground. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer.
Division in spring[]. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.