American Water Horehound

American Water Horehound
Lycopus americanus

My mom used to eat horehound candy and she said she liked it. None of us kids touched it because it tasted terrible, which is why I think my mom got it. She could have a bag of candy for herself!

Of course that candy was made from a different member of the mint family, White Horehound (Marrubium vulgare), which looks similar to the native Lycopus species, but is considered invasive wherever it's found in North America, which includes parts of Indiana.

American Water Horehound is a native plant which is found in wet areas; obligate wetland, and is easy to identify with its oddly toothed leaves and bundles of white flowers at the leaf nodes.

This plant is also called American Bugleweed. I suspect the name "Horehound" came from its identical look to the European White Horehound, but I have no idea how it got the common name of Bugleweed. If anyone knows, please comment.