Specifically, it emerged in the region between the Mediterranean Sea and Central Asia and now inhabits all continents.

The leaves are 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) long with a densely crinkled surface, and are covered in downy hairs.

The flowers are white, borne in clusters on the upper part of the main stem.

The word "White" is generally used in botanical contexts, to distinguish it from Black Horehound, Ballota nigra, a similar-looking herb.

White horehound has been mentioned in conjunction with use as a folk medicine dating at least back to the 1st century BC, where it appeared as a remedy for respiratory ailments in the treatise De Medicina by Roman encyclopaedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus.

According to 14th century English poet John Gower, in Book 7 of his Confessio Amantis, this plant was the herb of the fourth star of Nectanebus' astrology[clarify], Capella.