Marrubium vulgare
| Marrubium vulgare | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 2' |
| Width: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Late Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Shelter | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Marrubium vulgare (common name: white horehound)
Propagation: Seed - sow April/May or August/September in a cold frame. Germination can be slow and erratic[1]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in the following spring[K].
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[2]. 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.
Cultivation: White horehound is an easily grown plant that succeeds in most well-drained soils[1], though it flourishes best in a poor dry soil[2][3]. Another report says that the plant flourishes best where there is plenty of nitrogen in the soil[4]. It prefers neutral to alkaline soil conditions[5] and requires a warm sunny position if it is to do well[6].
Often grown in the herb garden and sometimes cultivated commercially as a medicinal herb[3][7]. If the plant is cut back after flowering it will normally produce a second crop of leaves[5].
The fresh leaves have a pronounced musky smell, though this is lost once the plant is dried[8].
A good bee plant[2].
White horehound is a good companion plant for growing near tomatoes[9]. The tomatoes crop for a longer period and also produce a heavier crop[10].
Range: Europe, including Britain, south and east to N. Africa, the Azores, central and western Asia.
Habitat: Downs, waste places and roadsides southwards from central Scotland, though perhaps only native near the south coast of England[11].
Edibility: The leaves are used as a seasoning[12]. Bitter and pungent, they are sometimes used to flavour herb beer or liqueurs[3][13]. Horehound ale is a fairly well-known drink made from the leaves[3][5].
A mild pleasantly flavoured tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves[13], it is a favourite cough remedy[3][14].
Medicinal: White horehound is a well-known and popular herbal medicine that is often used as a domestic remedy for coughs, colds, wheeziness etc[3][15]. The herb apparently causes the secretion of a more fluid mucous, readily cleared by coughing[15].
The leaves and young flowering stems are antiseptic, antispasmodic, cholagogue, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, strongly expectorant, hepatic, stimulant and tonic[3][16][17][18][19][5]. Horehound is a very valuable pectoral, expectorant and tonic that can be safely used by children as well as adults[3]. 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[3]. As a bitter tonic, it increases the appetite and supports the function of the stomach[15]. It can also act to normalize heart rhythm[15]. The plant is harvested as it comes into flower and can be used fresh or dried[5].
The root is a remedy for the bite of rattlesnakes, it is used in equal portions with Plantago lanceolata or P. major[20].
Usage: An essential oil is obtained from the plant and used as a flavouring in liqueurs[14].
The plant has been used as a cure for cankerworm in trees[5]. No more details are given but it is probably a strong infusion of the flowering shoots, or the essential oil, that is used[K].
The growing plant repels flies[10].
Pollinators: Bees, self
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Diggs, George and Barney Lipscomb. Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. Botanical Research Institute, 1999.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ Hylton, Josie and William Holtom. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press, 1979.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Genders, Roy. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale, 1994.
- ↑ Baines, Chris. Making a Wildlife Garden.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Allardice, Pamela. A-Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers, 1993.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Vilmorin-Andrieux. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
- ↑ Chiej, Roberto. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald, 1984.
- ↑ Launert, Edmund. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn, 1981.
- ↑ Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ Mills, Simon. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
- ↑ Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File, 1993.