Horehound
white north
HOREHOUND (Ang.-Sax., harkune ; Germ, Andorn ; Fr., Marrabe), Marrubium, L., a genus of perennial, usually cottony or woolly herbs, of the natural order Labiatff, and tribe Stachydece. Common or white horehound, ill. ml-gore, L., has a short and stout rootstock, and thick stems, about a foot in height, which, as well as their
numerous branches, are coated with a white or hoary felt - whence the popular name of the plant. The leaves have long petioles, and are roundish, or rhombic-ovate, crenate-serrate, much wrinkled, white and woolly below, and pale green and downy above; the flowers are sessile, in dense whorls or clusters, small, and dull-white, with calyx 10-toothed, and the upper lobe of the corolla long and bifid. The plant occurs in Europe,
North Africa, and North Asia to North-West India, and has been naturalized in parts of America. In Britain, where it is found generally on sandy or dry chalky ground, it is far from common. White horehound contains a volatile oil, resin, a crystallizable bitter principle termed mare.vbiin, and other substances, and has a not unpleasant aromatic odour, and a persistent bitter taste. It possesses
expectorant, tonic, and carminative properties, and in large doses is diuretic and laxative. Formerly it was official in British pharmacopoeias; and the infusion, syrup, or confection of horehound has long been in repute for the treatment of coughs and asthma, and has been recommended also in phthisis, chronic rheumatism, hepatic and uterine disorders, hysteria, and chlorosis. For medicinal
purposes the plant should be gathered when in flower, and is preferable in the fresh condition. Black horehound, Ballota nigra, L., is a hairy perennial labiate plant, of ftetid odour; is 2 to 3 feet in height ; has petiolate, roundish-ovate, serrate leaves, and numerous flowers, in dense axillary clusters, with a green or purplish calyx, and a pale red-purple corolla ; and occurs in Europe,
North Africa, and Russian Asia, and in Britain, except in northern Scotland, and has been introduced into North America. Water horehound is the Lgeopus europams of Linnaals, See Bentham, Handb. Brit. Fl., ii., 1865; Syme, Solerrby's Eng. Rot., vii, 50, 51, 1867 ; J. D. Dooki.r, Student's Fl., 2d. ed., 1878; Bentley and Trimen, Ned. Pl., pt. 14, fig. 210 ; and Still4 and Maisch, The National
Dispensatory, p. 001, 1879. 
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