Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Marrubium vulgare
Pronounced White Horehound (HOR-hownd); Marrubium vulgare (muh-ROO-bee-um vul-GAIR-ee)
Warm, dry, bitter stimulating expectorant that cuts and moves cold, boggy phlegm and rekindles sluggish digestion.
Avoid. AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook (2nd ed.) rates Marrubium vulgare Class 2b (not verified against AHPA): not to be used during pregnancy except under the supervision of a qualified practitioner, on the basis of its traditional use as an emmenagogue and its reputed abortifacient and uterine-stimulant action. Source: AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed.; Brinker, Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions.
Insufficient data; avoid. No modern clinical safety data exist for horehound during lactation, and safety is not established. Source: AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed. (no lactation data); NCCIH (no established safety data).
Insufficient robust data. The use in children under 12 years is not recommended (EMA). Source: EMA Community herbal monograph on Marrubium vulgare herba (2013); AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed.; traditional pediatric guidance.
Intensely bitter; large doses are laxative and may provoke nausea or vomiting. Research shows hypoglycemic and cardiovascular (vasorelaxant, hypotensive) activity at higher doses, so use cautiously in people managing blood sugar, blood pressure, or heart rhythm. Best matched to cold, damp, phlegmatic coughs; a poor fit for dry, hot, irritable coughs.
Pregnancy (traditional emmenagogue and reputed abortifacient; AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook Class 2b (not verified against AHPA)). Known allergy to Lamiaceae-family plants. Obstruction of the bile duct, cholangitis, liver disease, and ileus (bowel obstruction) (EMA). People with peptic ulcer, gallstones or other biliary disorders should see a doctor before use (EMA).
Marrubium vulgare is a hardy, widely naturalized (often weedy) plant of temperate waste ground and is not at risk; it is not listed by United Plant Savers. It is easily cultivated and wild stands are abundant, so wildcrafting pressure is minimal. Harvest flowering tops sustainably and prefer cultivated material.
Not named in the canonical biblical text. Some traditions count horehound among the bitter herbs (maror) associated with Passover (Exodus 12:8), though the identification is debated. Well documented in Greco-Roman medicine: Dioscorides (De Materia Medica, as 'prasion') and Pliny the Elder (Natural History) recommended it for cough and chest complaints.
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