AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS 



35 



HOARHOUND 



Marrubium vulgare L. (Fig. 63.) 



Other common names. — Houndsbene, marvel, marrube. 



Habitat and range. — Hoarhound grows in dry sandy or stony soil in waste 

 places, along roadsides, and near dwellings, in fields, and in pastures. It is 

 found from Maine to South Carolina, Texas, and westward to California and 

 Oregon. 



Description. — This is a bushy, branching herb with a pleasant aromatic odor 

 and a whitish, woolly appearance, due to the hairs which thickly cover the entire 

 plant. It grows from 1 to 3 feet high, with many woolly stems, rounded below 

 and 4-angled above. The leaves are from 1 to 2 inches in length, nearly round, 

 much wrinkled, somewhat hairy on the upper surface, and very hoary and prom- 

 inently veined on the lower surface. The whitish flowers are borne in dense 

 clusters in the axils of the leaves from June to September. 



Part used. — The leaves and tops, collected just before the plant is in flower, 

 the coarse stems being rejected. In limited demand only. 



Figure 63.— Hoarhound (Marrubium vulgare) 



Figure 64.— Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) 



HOPHORNBEAM 



Ostrya virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch. (Fig. 64.) 



Other common names. — Ironwood, deerwood, leverwood, black hazel, Indian 

 cedar. 



Habitat and range. — The ironwood is common in rich woods in Canada and the 

 eastern United States, and westward to Minnesota and Texas. 



Description. — This slender tree sometimes attains a height of 50 feet in the 

 western portion of its range, but farther eastward it usually grows only 15 to 20 

 feet high. The bark is finely furrowed in short lines lengthwise, and the wood is 

 very hard and heavy. The leaves are from 2^4 to 4 inches long and about an 

 inch or more wide, resembling the leaves of the sweet birch except that they are 

 rough to the touch instead of smooth and shining. The green inconspicuous 

 male and female flowers are produced from April to May. The male flowers are 

 borne in cylindrical catkins from 1^2 to 3 inches long and the female flowers in 

 short catkins which mature in July and August into large fruiting cones which 

 very much resemble hops. 



Part used. — The bark and inner wood. In limited demand only. 



