Verbascum thapsus seed Mullein
LATIN NAME: Verbascum thapsus
COMMON NAME: Mullein
The mullein is the tall, yellow candle of the dry verge, and the small, five-lobed flowers crowd the long, dense spikes above the woolly leaves. The tall, upright, biennial plant carries the large, soft, felted, grey-green leaves in the low rosettes in the first year, then sends up the tall, dense spikes of the small, bright-yellow, five-lobed flowers through the second summer, one of the fine, bold sights of the dry verge. The plant has a long record in the old practice of the old lands, and it is a fine, historic presence of the wayside. It is a plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The mullein is a historic subject of the plant science, and the yellow candles keep showing up in the work on the wayside herbs. The way the tall, dense spikes rise above the low rosettes of the woolly leaves has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the wayside herbs, the biennial plants and the members of the figwort family. The soft, felted leaves and the tall habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the mullein is a regular subject of the work on the yellow candles of the dry world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The mullein is a fine, bold plant of the dry verge and the wild patch. The tall, dense spikes of the small, bright-yellow, five-lobed flowers open from the base upward through the second summer, one of the fine, bold sights of the dry verge, drawing the bees and the small moths, and the large, soft, felted, grey-green leaves make the fine, woolly rosettes of the first year. The plant has a long record in the old practice of the old lands, and it is one of the fine choices for the dry verge, the wild patch and the study collection. It has been written about in the botanical and the herbal papers for the yellow candles and the long record of use, and it is a fine, bold plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining garden.
Give the young plants the open, sunny spot, and the candles will rise in the second summer.
To grow the mullein from seed, sow the tiny, brown seeds on the surface of a pot of fine, gritty soil, without covering them, keep the pot in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings come up in their own good time and grow on steadily. With the sun and the sharp-draining ground, the yellow candles will rise through the second summer.
Uses: Medicinal
Striking yellow flower stalks rise from a woolly leaf base in the second year. Good remedy for coughs, hoarseness and bronchitis. All plant parts can be used to produce yellow, bronze and grey dyes.