Marrubium vulgare L., Lamiaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Reject, score: 15 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: ou xia zhi cao

English: common horehound, horehound, white horehound

French: marrube blanc, marrube vulgaire

Spanish: marrubio común, toronjil cuyano

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Perennial herbs from a stout taproot; stems usually several, ascending to nearly erect, 3-10 dm long, conspicuously white woolly  pubescent.  Leaves elliptic to ovate-orbicular, 3-7 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, white woolly pubescent, especially on lower surface, margins crenate-dentate, apex obtuse to rounded, base very broadly cuneate to truncate or subcordate, petioles 1-2 cm long. Flowers in compact, axillary verticillasters; calyx cylindrical, 4-5 mm long, 10-toothed, the teeth more or less recurved, subequal; corolla bilabiate, white, 5-6 mm long, upper lip erect, entire or slightly 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed, median lobe usually emarginate. Nutlets ovoid, ca. 2 mm long, smooth" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 806).

Habitat/ecology:  "Dry forests, scrub- and woodland, arid rangelands, disturtbed sites.  A native of dry grassland and open places, this drought tolerant plant forms dense and pure stands where invasive that may extend over large areas.  These stands reduce native species richness and alter the community structure.  Establishment and growth of tree and shrub seedlings is strongly reduced in invaded areas"  (Weber, 2003; p. 256).

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized and locally common in dry, disturbed sites, 150-1,920 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 806). In New Caledonia, "mauvaise herbe peu commune" (MacKee, 1994; p. 69).  "In Chile this species grows in the following environmental conditions:  Low altitude, interior valleys; coastal mountains, 500-2000 m; coastal areas, 0-500 m.  Somewhat dry areas where the drought may last 3-5 months, precipitations of 400-800 mm. are concentrated in winter.  Fully exposed to the sun, level areas or slopes facing north"  (Chileflora).

Propagation:  "Seeds are dispersed by animals and streams.  They germinate whenever sufficient rains occur, and a soil seed bank may be accumulated in large stands"  (Weber, 2003; p. 256).

Native range:  Eurasia.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 9) "A widespread weed of overgrazed pastures and waste ground". Vouchers cited: W.G. Milne 6 (K); I. Robinson 119 (NSW); 1902, J.H. Maiden & J.L. Boorman (NSW)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 223)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 460, 465, 555)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 223)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 460, 465, 555)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 460, 465, 555) Voucher cited: Danton I(5/341)1684
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 806)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 806) Voucher cited: Forbes 289.L (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 69) Voucher cited: MacKee 40851

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Belov, Michail (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Dry grassy loess, slopes; Xinjiang.
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (pp. 236-237)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 188)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 776) "Open, dry pastures, rocky ground and disturbed sites such as roadsides, railways, heaps of spoil, waste places". Rarely cultivated.

Control: 

Physical:  "In fire adapted communities, prescribed burning is used to kill palnts and to reduce the soil seed bank.  Follow-up programs are necessary to treat seedlings".

Chemical:  "An effective herbicide is 2,4-D ester"  (Weber, 2003; p. 256).

Additional information:
Best Practice Management Guide developed by the CRC for Australian Weed Management (PDF format).
Photos and other information from Chileflora.

Additional online information about Marrubium vulgare is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Marrubium vulgare as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Marrubium vulgare may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Belov, Michail. 2011. Chileflora (online resource).

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Skottsberg, Carl. 1953. The natural history of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island. Vol. II, Botany. Almqvist &l; Wiksells, Uppsala. 960 pp.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).