A flowering plant in the mint family, with densely felted hairs on the leaves, white horehound is primarily used for the treatment of respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders. In the English language the name horehound comes from the Old English words har and hune, meaning downy plant. It was the principal ingredient in the enslaved man Dr Caesar’s antidote for poisons. In the spring of 1750, the USA’s South Carolina General Assembly purchased the freedom of Dr Caesar because it was believed he possessed life-saving medical knowledge. The white minority of South Carolina’s early population were terrified of being secretly poisoned by the enslaved people who prepared their meals and sought remedies that might save them. In return for his emancipation Caesar divulged to a committee of white legislators his secret antidote for poisons and snakebites, prepared from a combination of familiar plants found across the colonial landscape. This simple decoction earned him immortal fame in South Carolina and beyond. The two main ingredients that Caesar employed were white horehound and ribwort (Plantago lanceolata).
White horehound has long been noted for its efficacy in lung troubles and cough. As a gentle stimulating expectorant it assists in bronchitis, asthma, whooping cough, loss of voice, chesty colds and congestive catarrhal conditions with a non-productive cough. Or as one of the most influential herbalist writers, Nicholas Culpeper, described it in the 19th century “tough phlegm from the chest”.
In A Modern Herbal in 1931, for ‘pectoral remedies’, Maud Grieve combined white horehound with hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), rue (Ruta graveolens), liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) and marshmallow (Althaea officinalis). She also says it is very useful for children’s cough and croup and helps as a “corrective of the stomach”. A bitter action stimulates the flow and secretion of bile from the gallbladder aiding digestion. It is useful for dyspepsia, easing bloating and gas, and acts as a vermifuge. This bitter plant has been used as a substitute for hops (Humulus lupulus) in beer breweries.
References
Butler N. Doctor Caesar and His Antidote for Poison in 1750. Charleston County Public Library c2022. (updated 12 Feb 2021; accessed 3 Nov 2022). Available from https://www.ccpl.org/charleston-time-machine/doctor-caesar-and-his-antidote-poison-1750
Aćimović M, Jeremić K, Salaj N, Gavarić N, Kiprovski B, Sikora V, Zeremski T. Marrubium vulgare L.: A Phytochemical and Pharmacological Overview. Molecules. 2020 Jun 24;25(12):2898. doi: 10.3390/molecules25122898. PMID: 32599693; PMCID: PMC7355696.
Culpeper N. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal and English physician. Magna Books: Leicester 1981 (original edition published 1826). p. 76.
Hoffmann D. Medical Herbalism. Rochester: Healing Arts Press. 2003. p. 565
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[vi] Grieve M. A Modern Herbal. Penguin:London; 1980. p. 416
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