Marrubium

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{For|the ancient city in Italy called Marrubium|San Benedetto dei Marsi}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|name = Horehound

|image = Marrubium rotundifolia.jpg

|image_caption = Foliage of Marrubium rotundifolia

|display_parents = 2

|taxon = Marrubium

|authority = L.

|synonyms_ref =

|synonyms =

  • Padota Adans.
  • Atirbesia Raf.
  • Maropsis Pomel

}}

Marrubium (horehound or hoarhound) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia as far east as the Xinjiang region of western China. A few species are also naturalized in North and South America.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=120782 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families][http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=119743 Flora of ChinaVol. 17 Page 104 欧夏至草属 ou xia zhi cao shu Marrubium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 582. 1753. ][http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/floraspecie.php?genere=Marrubium Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Marrubium] includes distribution maps for Europe and North America[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Marrubium%20vulgare.png Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map]

;Species

The genus name Marrubium derives from the Latin word marrubii, meaning horehound. The French Talmudic exegete, Rashi, thinks that this herb may have been used as one of the bitter herbs on the night of Passover.Sefer Targum Ha-La'az (ed. Yisroel Gukovitzky), London 1992, p. 68 (entry no. 1000e) The common English name horehound is of unknown origin, but with the first part 'hore' derived from "hoary", "hairy".

The species formerly classified as Marrubium nigrum (Black Horehound) is now placed in the genus Ballota.

Marrubium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora lineolea.

References

{{Commons category|Marrubium}}

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Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Lamiaceae genera