Horehound
In Seed
Ellura
Wild Sage
Above, ~80mm wide
 
                      
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida)
Order: Mints (Lamiales)
Family: Mint (Lamiaceae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)
This Photo:     🔍Seed Head🔎
Other names: Hound's Bane, Marrube, Marvel, White Horehound or Woolly Horehound

Thank you Alan Dandie (Alan_Dandie) for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Flinders Ranges and elsewhere
#3 Enemy: Bush with green grey foliage, very hard to spot in saltbush. Hides well.
Seeds last decades in the soil, so long term monitoring of an infected area is required to ensure it doesn't become re-established.
Has little hooks on the seed pods that get stuck to animal fur (and socks!) which spreads the seed very effectively.
With the recent flooding (2022) we found the first horehound, about to seed, for many years from an old seed bank.

Copyright © 2017-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 15-May-2017
This species is classed as If (Foreign Introduction)