All About Horehound

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Posted by @wildflowers on
A nice hot cup of horehound tea with honey and lemon and a warm slice of banana nut bread covered in melted butter. That's one of my fondest childhood memories. With winter and the holidays just around the corner, I'm reminded of horehound and what a special herb it is.

As a child, whenever I was sick and had to stay home in bed, Mom brought me horehound tea and banana nut bread; it always seemed to help me feel better.  She would sometimes make the tea by steeping horehound leaves in boiling water, which was a little bitter, so she would add honey and a squeeze of lemon; that made it go down nice and smooth.  Then she made a cough syrup from the rest of the tea and more honey. Hot tea and banana nut bread; I don't get sick often but when I do, I still want my comfort food!  I carried that tradition on down to my own two children when they were sick.

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Mom would also bring home a little white paper bag full of horehound drops, the sugar coated drops that she scooped from a big wooden barrel down at the corner Rx.  She said that horehound was the only thing that helped my wheezing and my baby sister's bronchial cough. My baby sister was sick more than the rest of us so we were a little jealous that she would get horehound drops way more than we did.  Since those days, horehound seems to have lost its status as a remedy for coughs and colds; they sure are hard to find.  Luckily a friend shared her recipe with me so I can make them easily at home.  I've added the recipe below.

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Horehound, Common horehound, White horehound, Hoarhound, Marrubium vulgare is a tufted perennial herb with a short root.  Like others in the mint family (Lamiaceae), horehound has square stems that are green with downy hairs and soft to the touch. The leaves are deeply creased above and pale silvery beneath.  In summertime, clusters of tiny white flowers appear in the joints between the leaves and stems.  The clusters of flowers dry to form brown burrs with small hooked spines. Each burr contains up to 4 small spear-shaped seeds.

In a sunny location in the garden, it makes a nice backdrop, reaching between 1 and 3 feet high. It is aromatic and has a very pleasant, apple-like aroma.  White horehound is easily grown even in poor soil and is considered a wildflower, usually found on cliffs and chalky areas.  Introduced from Europe, it has naturalized in many parts of North America.  It's said to grow wild in my area of Texas and I looked but was disappointed not to find any.  It can be propagated by seed in spring or wintersown (though germination is erratic), or by taking cuttings or dividing roots. The flowers, stems, and leaves can be cut and harvested in late summer and made into a candy or syrup, or used fresh or dried in teas. 

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According to various sources, horehound had many medicinal uses in the past, some of which are still used today. Today it is used in herbal medicine as an expectorant to help coughs, particularly where there is phlegm on the chest, asthma, or bronchitis.  It increases the perspiration rate and has a sedative effect on the heart.  It is also used to treat minor cuts and bruises.  It's effective as an appetite stimulant, because it contains bitters which usually stimulate the stomach to produce acids that cause a desire to eat.

Historically, horehound has quite an impressive past and is one of the oldest known cough remedies.  It has been esteemed since Roman times, and its name marrubium derives from the Hebrew marrob, a bitter herb used by Jews during the Passover feast.  The common name, horehound, comes from the Old English words har and hune, meaning downy plant. Other names for this ancient remedy include bulls' blood, eye of the star, houndsbane, marrubium, marvel, and seed of Horus.  Old world herbalists considered it a remedy against coughs and wheezing of the lungs and help with phlegm.  It was one of the herbs in the medicine chests of the Egyptian pharaohs.  The herbalist Gerald recommends it, in addition to its uses in coughs and colds, to 'those that have drunk poison or have been bitten of serpents,' and also administered it for 'mad dogge's biting.'  Another well known herbalist of his time, Nicholas Culpeper said, "It helpeth to expectorate tough phlegm from the chest." 

Against tonsillitis, Saint Hildegard of Bingen recommended twice a day, a freshly prepared horehound soup; one tablespoon cabbage of horehound, cook five minutes in water and then strain through a filter. Then add 250 milliliters (8.45 oz.) dry white wine, 1-2 tablespoons butter (lard, cream) to the brewed herbs and boil briefly.

Horehound was once popular to use in beer making.

 

List of medicinal uses

Remedy for coughs and wheezing

Colds and chest infections

Infertility

Appetite stimulant

For jaundice, dyspepsia and hysteria

Menstrual imbalance

Laxative, in large quantities

Cure for snakebite

Antidote for poisoning

 

As a companion plant, horehound stimulates and aids fruiting in tomatoes and peppers. Like many varieties in the mint family, the tiny flowers attract many beneficial insects such as Braconid and Icheumonid wasps, and Tachnid and Syrid flies. The larva forms of these insects parasitize or otherwise consume many other insect pests. It grows where others fail to thrive and can survive harsh winters. It blooms over a long season, attracting beneficial insects almost as long as you are likely to need them.

Horehound is known as "The natural grasshopper repellent." 

 

Horehound Drops

Cook:

3 cups boiling water

3 oz horehound leaves

6 cups dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon butter

Steep leaves for 20 minutes and then strain. Discard leaves, or add to your compost.

Add sugar, cream of tartar and butter, to the infusion.

Cook to hard boil stage and then add lemon juice.

buttered pan and score when cooled.

Cut into squares before the candy is completely set.

Dust with fine sugar to keep from sticking; or

Wrap individual candies in paper and store in a cool dark place.

 

Horehound cough syrup

Make an old-time cough remedy by mixing horehound tea with honey.

Make an infusion by steeping 1 ounce of fresh or dried horehound leaves in a pint of boiling water.

Allow it to steep 20 minutes.

Strain off the leaves, then measure the quantity of liquid remaining.

Add twice as much honey as liquid, mix well, and bottle.

To soothe a cough, take 1 teaspoon at a time, about 4 times a day.

 

Horehound tea

The standard way to make an infusion, is to pour a cup of boiling water over the material to be infused, let it stand for 5 minutes, strain it, and drink it.

Fresh plant material - When the recipe refers to fresh plant material to be used, a 1/4 cup fresh material is used, following the method above.

Dried material - When the recipe refers to using dried material, use 2 teaspoons of material when making it.

Sweetening your infusion - You could sweeten your health drink with honey, should you so require, and a dash of fresh lemon juice may also enhance the taste.

 

Mom's banana nut bread

1 c. sugar                         1/2 c. shortening

1 3/4 c. flour                     1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder        2 eggs, beaten

1/2 c. walnuts, chopped      1/2 tsp. soda

3 very ripe bananas-black skins, mashed

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Cream sugar & shortening together.  Sift together flour, salt and baking powder.  Add to cream and shortening mixture along with eggs.  Mash ripe bananas and mix with soda and cinnamon.  Combine with mixture.  Add nuts.  Mix well.  Bake 1 hour, 5 minutes at 325 degrees.

 

 
Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Just saw this in "random!" by Bubbles Jan 21, 2013 8:54 AM 7
Untitled by vic Dec 9, 2011 2:03 PM 13
Yeee Hawwwwww!!! by Ridesredmule Dec 2, 2011 5:29 PM 10

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