Plants in Israel; Lebanon white-horehound

Marrubium libanoticum, Marrubium globosum, Marrubium hermonis, Lebanon white-horehound,

Hebrew: מרמר הלבנון, מרוביון הלבנון, Arabic: الفراسيون الحرموني, الفراسيون الكروي نويع اللبناني

Scientific name:   Marrubium libanoticum Boiss.
Synonym name:   Marrubium globosum subsp. libanoticum (Boiss.) P.H.Davis, Marrubium hermonis Boiss.
Common name:   Lebanon white-horehound
Hebrew name:   מרמר הלבנון, מרוביון הלבנון
Arabic name:   الفراسيون الحرموني, الفراسيون الكروي نويع اللبناني
Family:   Labiatae / Lamiaceae, Mint Family, שפתניים


Location: Mount Hermon
Life form:   Hemicryptophyte
Stems:   Up to 35cm; ascending, woolly
Leaves:   Opposite, 1-1.5cm, circular or ovate, margin slightly scalloped
Inflorescence:   Many-flowered, in remote axillary dense-flowered, spherical whorls
Flowers:   Corolla whitish
Fruits / pods:   Nutlets, hairless
Flowering Period:   June, July, August, September, October
Habitat:   Tragacanth shrub vegetation (Oro-Mediterranean)
Distribution:   Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Oro Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Location: Mount Hermon

Derivation of the botanical name:

Marrubium is said to be derived from Maria urbs, an ancient town of Italy. Other authors derive its name from the Hebrew marrob (a bitter juice), and state that it was one of the bitter herbs which the Jews were ordered to take for the Feast of Passover.

libanoticum, of Mount Lebanon.
globosum, globos, spherical.
The Hebrew name: מרמר ,מרוביון, marrubion, a transliteration from the scientific name; מרמר, marmar from mar:to be bitter.

  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810–1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.
  • The standard author abbreviation P. H. Davis is used to indicate Peter H. Davis, Professor of the University of Edinburgh.

Marrubium libanoticum is characteristic of the subalpine and alpine belts (above 2000 meters).