Common names: White Hoarhound, Common Hoarhound, Horehound
Taxonomic name: Marrubium vulgare
Family: Lamiaceae
Can be used for: respiratory complaints, phlegm, colds without sweat
Area of origin: Europe, Northern Africa
Warnings: too much can give you diarrhoea (but if you can take that much, you’re have a tougher stomach than me).
Hoarhound isn’t the prettiest of plants. Thick, woolly grey leaves, and annoyingly tenacious seeds that get stuck in socks and devalue sheep fleeces make it a plant that’s reviled by farmers. Its extremely bitter taste make it unpalatable to many creatures (though if you look closely at the pic below, you will see a little critter having a well disguised munch).The ‘hoar’ part of Hoarhound’s name isn’t related to the derogatory term for sex workers, it refers instead to the Anglo-Saxon term for frost. The downy leaves can look like they’re covered in frost, especially when covered in dew early in the morning. You can tell that information is written by someone who doesn’t know this when you see the name spelled ‘Horehound’.
However, Hoarhound has many uses that we can examine here, afterall, it’s is one of the enormous Mint family (Lamiaceae), so you can expect some good things from it. You can tell that it’s from that family by its hairy, square stems and small, lipped flowers.
Hoarhound is used by herbalists for its bitterness – taste it and you won’t forget quickly! This bitterness makes it suitable for expelling phlegm, especially tenacious and sticky stuff. I find it better for deep down phlegm while Plantain is better for thinner, upper respiratory phlegm.
I like to consider Hoarhound for when phlegm is stuck deeper down in the chest cavity and needs loosening and expelling. The bitter principles stimulate the membranes to produce mucus, which might sound a bit strange when we’re trying to get rid of that very thing. What happens is that the new mucus produced by the membranes is thinner than and helps thin and move the congested thick mucus, allowing it to be moved out. It’s bitterness also dilates arteries to increase blood flow and further ease congestion.
Hoarhound, then, is a stimulating bitter, and best used when cold has congested fluids and allowed stagnation to occur, resulting in the phlegm build up that we all know and love. It is traditionally used at the first sign of a cold or flu, the first tickle in the back of the throat when it can be used to stop discomfort very quickly.
Hoarhound also helps kick up a sweat (diaphoretic), one of the earliest and most critical parts of our immune system’s response to a cold or infection. In herbal terms, it ‘opens the pores’, allowing fluids to escape.
Being so bitter, Hoarhound helps digestion by stimulating the gall bladder to produce bile. This aids in fat digestion and can help with biliousness. In fact, it helps stimulate secretion and balance our glands in general.
Bitter plants such as Hoarhound and Wormwood are traditionally used to expel intestinal worms and other parasites.
Unappreciated in farming circles, Hoarhound can be our a great friend when it comes to colds.
