Horehound
Marrubium vulgare
Origin. Eurasia.
Distribution in Canberra Region. Widespread particularly in pastures, disturbed or grazed woodland and riverine areas.
Dispersal. Animals (especially sheep), water and wind.
General Description and Biology
A bushy perennial herb with a stout branched taproot from which multiple quadrangular branching stems rise up to 80 cm.
Can form dense patches up to several metres in diameter. Strong musty smell.
Leaves are on stalklets; grayish, fleshy, heart-shaped, wrinkled, irregularly scalloped, veins prominent underneath.
Flowers are arranged in angles below upper leaves of stems.
Seeds clasp stems for some months until stems fall to the ground.
Many seeds may be collected from the ground underneath the outer drooping dried-up branches.
Control methods
a. Manual
Taproot can be dislodged with a mattock.
If seeds are already formed all upper-stems should be bagged and destroyed.
If already dried up, the seeds may be manually stripped off (carefully � like playing fiddlesticks!) and bagged.
See CRC Best Management Guide #8 for more details, including use of herbicides.