FoodFood InformationHerbs&Spice
HOREHOUND (Marrubium vulgare)
This is a perennial relative of mint with much branched stems that grow
about 2 feet high. Its aromatic, wrinkled, gray green leaves are covered
with downy white hair; flowers also are white. As a garden ornamental it
some times looks rather weedy, but it can serve as an edging in a gray garden.
Horehound is an age old medication for coughs and sore throats. The ancient
Greeks and Romans used it as an antidote for poisoning, to cure insect and
snake bites, and to keep scorpions and spiders away from their homes. It
has become naturalized and a weed in parts of California.
It grows easily in poor, sandy, dry soil and full sun; once established,
it can be rather aggressive. Sow seeds in flats and transplant the seedlings
into the garden 12 inches apart.
Horehound is used to make horehound candy, and a tea brewed from the leaves
is sometimes taken to relieve a cough or cold.