Family:  Mint (Lamiaceae)

Hardy to Zones 5 to 10

Herbaceous perennial flowering 2 to 3 feet tall, native to the Mediterranean basin.  Black Horehound is a hemispherical, lavender to reddish-purple flowered, dark-foliaged specimen plant, quite unusual in the trade and rarely met with in gardens in the US.   Besides the dark green to almost black, pubescent foliage, the plant is distinguished by its malodor, as well as the globular buds that eventually open to reveal the open maw of the corollas.  Traditional usage of fresh or dried leaves and flowers made into tea (TWM):  nervine sedative, antiemetic. antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antifeedant and hypoglycemic.  Source of phenylpropanoid glycosides, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The plant prefers full sun to part shade, mesic to moist, nitrogen-rich soils and withstands a wide range of pH from 5 to 7.5.  Black horehound will do pretty well in standard garden soil, although should the soil be insufficiently well-drained, the plant has a tendency to disappear after the first year of growth.  Flowers usually in the second year and ongoing. Space plants 2 feet apart.

Potted plant, Certified Organically Grown