Witnessed by: Western
Black horehound (Ballota nigra), of the Lamiaceae family. Straggling hairy perennial of hedge-banks with dull purple whorled flowers; native range: hedgerows and waste ground of Europe, western Asia and North Africa. Globally recognized as black stinking horehound, madwort in English. The part used is aerial parts in flower. Foetid, disagreeable odour when bruised, bitter and slightly acrid to taste.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
BLACK HOREHOUND
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- black horehound
- Scientific name
- Ballota nigra L.
- Family
- Lamiaceae
Form
- Part used
- aerial parts in flower
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · acrid
Temperature
- Western
- cool
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- stomach · nervous system
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- antiemetic, sedative nervine, mild antispasmodic, expectorant
Cautions
- Contraindications
- avoid in pregnancy without supervision
- Toxicity
- generally safe at therapeutic dose; unpalatable in excess
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