The plant's juice yields black dye, supposedly used by the Roma to tan their skin to mimic Egyptians in Europe, and hence the common name of Gypsywort for Lycopus europaeus.
Lycopus europaeus, common names gypsywort, gipsywort, bugleweed, European bugleweed and water horehound, is a perennial plant in the Lycopus genus, native to Europe and Asia, and naturalized in the United States.