Horehound plant

Down in the Manawatu on our dairy farm grew a few clumps of this crinkly grey leafed plant in the sandy soil of our orchard.  I always wondered about it and was delighted when I discovered it is a healing plant. In Tauranga it grows on the pasture slopes of Mauao or Mount Maunganui.

Horehound Marrubium vulgare (from Hebrew meaning ‘bitter juice’) stands upright to 60cm and is a bushy  perennial.  The grey leaves have soft downy hairs on new growth and underneath giving it a woolly look. The small white flowers are in dense clusters at regular intervals around the square stem and the whole plant has a

Horehound with the downy hairs

pungent medicinal smell. It is in the lavender family of plants.  The sepals that surround dried flowers are prickly to touch and the same flower parts can stick to sheep’s wool and clothes.

Horehound is attractive to bees, a good companion to tomatoes and is said to repel flies.

Horehound originating from Europe and Asia, grows on roadsides, waste places, sheep yards and dry arealike Canterbury and Otago where it is a big problem in pasture and Lucerne crops. It is less common

White horehound flowers

north of the Volcanic Plateau.  The plants have a bitter taste and are avoided by animals, but can taint the meat if they do eat it.  Two species of moth have been introduced to biologically control the plant, bringing it back to balance without eradicating it, leaving plenty to harvest for medicine, since it is an excellent and ancient remedy for respiratory problems.

So what makes horehound a medicinal herb?  The Vitamin C, essential oils, flavonoids, alkaloids, bitter lactone, saponins, sterols, tannins, monoterpenes and the diterpene marrubiin

Prickly seedpods

which probably gives horehound the ability to clear mucous. It also reduces the urge to cough (antispasmodic) eases sore throats, colds, hoarseness, asthma, reduces fever, calms a nervous heart, expels worms in animals and people and is a digestive tonic because of the bitterness. Soothing horehound syrups and sweets were sold in grocer’s shops in Victorian times.

How to prepare horehound? Put a large handful of leaves in 2 cups of water and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and let steep at least 3 hours or

Julia picking horehound on Mauao or Mt Maunganui

overnight.  Strain, warm and add honey to taste. For adults take 2 T twice/day.

To make a syrup: Bring to the boil 56gm dried or 85gm fresh horehound in 4 cups water.Simmer until reduced to half. Strain off herb.  Add 1/2 cup honey to each cup of liquid. To flavour add couple drops essential oil like peppermint and or fruit concentrate e.g. black currant juice.

Julia with the horehound harvest

Yesterday July 11^th I went foraging on Mount Maunganui and harvested a nice amount of horehound.  I’m drying some and have made an infusion to take this evening to the monthly meeting of the Tauranga Herb Society, where I’ll be giving a short presentation about his little known healing plant.