Black Horehound - Ballota nigra

Description

Medium to tall, often straggling, very aromatic plant. Flowers lilac 12 to 14 mm in dense whorls along the leafy stem. Calyx funnel shaped with triangular, finely-pointed 4 to 6.5 mm long teeth.

Similar Species

Red dead-nettle, Hedge Woundwort 

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Calyx has 5 equal lobes

Habitat

Woodland margins, hedgebanks and roadside verges.

When to see it

June to September.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Mainly found in England except the north-west. Scarcer in Wales and Scotland.

VC55 Status

Frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 247 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Black Horehound
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Lamiales
Family:
Lamiaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
137
First record:
23/06/2006 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
25/08/2024 (Bell, Melinda)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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