Herb of the Month:
Mullein
By Virginia McCollom
October 2005
Botanical Name: Verbascum Thapsus
(LINN.)
Common
Names: Big Tapers, Common Mullein, Flannel Plant, Velvet Plant, Velvet Rock, Woolly Plant,
White Mullein, Torches, Candlewick Plant, and Aaron's Rod
Uses: Medicinal, and
smoking
Area of Origin: Europe and Asia
Great Mullein is a stately plant, with
long, felted, pale gray leaves and a giant spike on which a succession of small
yellow flowers appear in the summer. In the first season of the plant's growth,
there appears only a rosette of large leaves, 6 to 15 inches long, in form
somewhat like those of the foxglove, but thicker - whitish with a soft,
dense mass of hairs on both sides, which make them very thick to the touch. In
the following spring, a solitary, stout, pale stem, with tough, strong fibers
enclosing a thin rod of white pith, arises from the midst of the felted leaves.
Its rigid uprightness accounts for some of the plant's local names: 'Aaron's
Rod', 'Jupiter's' or 'Jacob's Staff'.
The leaves near the base of the stem are large and numerous, 6 to 8 inches long and 2 to 2 1/2 inches broad, but
become smaller as they ascend the stem, on which they are arranges not opposite
to one another, but on the alternate sides. They are broad and simple in
form. The leaf system is so arranged that the smaller leaves above drop the rain
upon the larger ones below, which direct the water to the roots. This is a
necessary arrangement, since the Mullein grows on dry soils. The hairs which
cover the leaves so thickly act as a protective coat for the plants moisture and
as a defensive weapon to prevent the attacks of creeping insects. The hairs also
set up an intense irritation in the mucous membrane of any grazing animals that
may attempt to browse upon them, so that the plants are usually left severely
alone by them. The hairs are not confined to the leaves alone, but are also on
every part of the stem, so that the whole plant appears whitish or grey.
The down on the leaves and stem makes excellent tinder when quite dry, readily
igniting on the slightest spark, and was, before the introduction of cotton,
used for lamp wicks, hence another of the old names: ' Candlewick Plant.'
Another of the plant's many names, 'Hag's Taper' also exists - and may imply
that the sturdy spikes of this tall hedge plant, studded with pale yellow
blossoms, suggested a tall candle growing in the hedge. Torches' is another name
for the plant because the stalks were dipped in suet and burned.
Mullein has a long history as an herb in medicine, and in the Middle Ages was
regarded as a cure - all. Its chief use was to heal sore throats, but it was
also a remedy for many stomach ailments, used to ease cramps and treatments for
gout. The herb has soothing and antiseptic properties and today is used in
herbal medicine for chest and bronchial infections. It is thought particularly
beneficial in the treatment of asthma, pneumonia, pleurisy, and whooping cough.
It is also employed as a general pain reliever and as a treatment for insomnia.
Mullein oil is a valuable destroyer of disease germs. The seeds and leaves were
also used when boiled in wine to draw out splinters and thorns when they became
embedded in the flesh.
Its cultivation is easy: being a hardy biennial, it needs full sun, requires
sowing in very ordinary soil and to be kept free from weeds. Plant seeds in
spring or late summer when they are ripe. The ripened seed capsules are very
hard and contain many seeds, which eventually escape through two valves
and are scattered round the parent plant.
The seeds are also said to intoxicate fish when thrown into the water, and are used by poachers for that
purpose, being slightly narcotic.
Our LCV garden
has this plant growing in one of the front gardens and is in bloom at various time of the year.
Stop by and see it. It is very impressive.
Resources:
The Ultimate Herb Book
Botanical.com
Created by Cyndal Smith
Webmaster of the Greater Fort Worth Herb Society,
Created
September 04, 2006 -
Updated September 04, 2006