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Mullein
(Verbascum thapsus)
Say that three times fast!
Also called the Great Velvet Mullein
Not a native plant.
Birds enjoy the many seeds the stalks hold through the fall and winter.
Mullein is another plant brought to North America by early settlers as part of their collection of important medicinal plants. Back then you couldn't run down to a 24 hour CVS if you didn't feel well. You had to know what plants to use AND you had to have those plants around! Used most commonly for coughs, mullein leaves also were suggested as a remedy for both diarrhea and constipation. Steeped in oil they were thought to help bruises and frostbite, hemorrhoids and ear aches!
It grows well in poor soil. When it finds itself in pretty good soil it can grow HUGE! Giant fuzzy grey leaves are wonderful to see. It can grow very tall, around 6 feet, when it is very happy.
Mullein is a biennial plant. It takes two years to complete its life cycle. The first year it grows inot a lovely rosette of wooly grey-green leaves that last nicely throught the winter. The next year it grows fast and big...then sends up a flower spike.
The leaves and stems of plants are wooly for good reasons. The fuzz protects the plant from sudden changes in temperature...both cold and hot. As with other plants that you might call hairy rather than wooly, the mullein uses the fuzz to keep ants and other insects from messing with its flowers and seeds. It welcomes bees though.
Not quite in flower.
This is a view looking straight down on the mullein plant.
It starts blooming at the bottom of the flower spike first.
This view looks up under the leaves. Note the thick veins.
Study pointers:
- Go into the Schoolyard Habitat and feel the mullein leaf. Look around. How many other plants with similar leaves do you spot?
- If it is flowering, look closely at the flowers. How many different kinds of insects do you see there?
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