Wikimedia Commons
Scrophulariaceae
Common Mullein
Verbascum thapsus
Tall courage and quiet healing.
- Family
- Scrophulariaceae
- Genus
- Verbascum
- Native to
- Europe, North Africa, Asia
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- biennial
- Height
- 1–2 m
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- any well-drained, prefers gravelly
- Water
- very low; drought-tolerant
- Hardiness
- 3–9
- Lifespan
- biennial
Did you know
- First-year plants form a flat rosette of huge, soft, woolly leaves — sometimes called 'cowboy toilet paper'.
- Second-year stalks can shoot up to 2 meters in a single growing season, capped with a tower of yellow flowers.
- Roman soldiers reportedly dipped the dried stalks in tallow to use as torches.
- A single mullein plant can produce more than 100,000 seeds, which can stay viable in soil for 80+ years.
- Its flowers and leaves are a traditional remedy for coughs and respiratory complaints, still sold as herbal tea.
Color meanings
Yellow
steady warmth and light