Ballota

Taxobox
name = "Ballota"

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Ballota nigra"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Lamiales
familia = Lamiaceae
genus = "Ballota"
genus_authority = L.
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text.

"Ballota" (horehound) is a genus of about 35 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe, north Africa and western Asia, with the highest diversity in the Mediterranean region.

"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".

;Selected species
*"Ballota acetabulosa"
*"Ballota frutescens"
*"Ballota hirsuta"
*"Ballota nigra" - Black Horehound
*"Ballota pseudodictamnus"

The genus is closely related to "Marrubium", with some species having been included in that genus in the past.