Marrubium vulgare

Marrubium vulgare, “White horehound” in English and “Marrube blanc” in French, belongs to the Lamiaceae botanical family. Native to Europe, North Africa, central and western Asia, is a herb growing to 0.6 m in dry meadows, waste places and roadsides.

Its essential oil is used as a flavouring in liqueurs.

As a drug, it is often made into teas, or into a syrup or candy in order to disguise its bitter flavor. It is traditionally used as a bitter and as a choleretic. It increases the appetite and supports the function of the stomach, and helps in digestive and biliary ailments. It is also used as a mild expectorant for coughs, colds, wheeziness etc.

Among its main constituents are diterpene bitter substances (mostly lactone marubiin), peregrinol and vulgarol; flavonoids (vitexin, luteolin and apigenin); stachydrine and caffeic acid, essential oil and tannins.

• English name White horehound
• French name Marrube blanc