Ballota (horehound) is a genus of flowering evergreen perennial plants and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae. native to temperate regions. The Mediterranean region has the highest diversity in the genus, with more isolated locations in South Africa, Central Asia, northern Europe, and the islands of the eastern North Atlantic.[1][2] It is found in rocky and waste ground.[3]
Ballota is paraphyletic and will eventually be re-circumscribed. It is closely related to Moluccella and Marrubium.[4] Some of its species had previously been placed in Marrubium.
Ballota species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera including Coleophora case-bearers: C. ballotella, C. lineolea (which has been recorded on B. nigra) and C. ochripennella.
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