Black Horehound
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.
Graham Calow
Higham on the Hill
04 July 2015
David Nicholls
Watermead Country Park
06 September 2012 B4114 Sapcote SP 4901 9225 (taken 23.6.2006).JPG)
Graham Calow
Sapcote
23 June 2006
David Nicholls
Kirby Muxloe Castle
25 August 2012 Cooks Lane Sapcote SP 4895 9317 (taken 13th July 2008).JPG)
Graham Calow
Sapcote
13 July 2008
Rare white form
 B4114 Sapcote SP 4901 9225 (taken 23.6.2006).JPG)
 Cooks Lane Sapcote SP 4895 9317 (taken 13th July 2008).JPG)
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
Enter a town or village to see local records
MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020
UK Map
Additional images
