''Verbascum'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of over 450 species of flowering plants,

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

mullein (), in the figwort family

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein leaf" often refers to the leaves of ''

Verbascum thapsus ''Verbascum thapsus'', the great mullein, greater mullein or common mullein, is a species of mullein native to Europe, northern Africa, and Asia, and introduced in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. It is a hairy biennial plant that can ...

'', the great or common mullein, which is frequently used in herbal medicine.

Description

''Verbascum'' are

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and t ...

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

s, rarely annuals or

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...

s, growing to tall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves at ground level, subsequently sending up a tall flowering stem. Biennial plants form the rosette the first year and the stem the following season. The leaves are spirally arranged, often densely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flowers have five symmetrical petals; petal colours in different species include yellow (most common), orange, red-brown, purple, blue, or white. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous minute seeds.

Cultivation

In gardening and landscaping, the mulleins are valued for their tall narrow stature and for flowering over a long period of time, even in dry soils. These

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have received the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

: *'Gainsborough' (Cotswold Group) *'Letitia' *'Pink Domino' (Cotswold Group) *'Tropic Sun'

Select species

*''

Verbascum acaule ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *'' Verbascum adeliae'' *'' Verbascum adenanthum'' *'' Verbascum adrianopolitanum'' *''

Verbascum agrimoniifolium ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum anisophyllum ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum arcturus ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum argenteum ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum austriacum ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum baldaccii ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum banaticum ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum barnadesii ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum bithynicum ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum blattaria ''Verbascum blattaria'', the moth mullein, is a flowering biennial plant belonging to the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. A native of Eurasia and North Africa, it has Naturalisation (biology), naturalized in the United States and most of Canada ...

'' *''

Verbascum boerhavei ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum boissieri ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *'' Verbascum botuliforme'' *'' Verbascum brevipedicellatum'' *'' Verbascum bugulifolium'' *'' Verbascum calycosum'' * ''Verbascum'' × ''candelabrum'' *'' Verbascum chaixii'' *'' Verbascum chinense'' *'' Verbascum creticum'' *'' Verbascum cylindrocarpum'' *'' Verbascum cylleneum'' *'' Verbascum daenzeri'' *'' Verbascum davidoffii'' *'' Verbascum decorum'' *'' Verbascum delphicum'' *'' Verbascum densiflorum'' *'' Verbascum dentifolium'' *'' Verbascum dieckianum'' *'' Verbascum dingleri'' *'' Verbascum drymophiloides'' *'' Verbascum durmitoreum'' * ''Verbascum'' × ''edirnense'' *'' Verbascum epixanthinum'' *'' Verbascum eriophorum'' *'' Verbascum eskisehirensis'' *'' Verbascum euboicum'' *'' Verbascum flavidum'' * ''Verbascum'' × ''gabrielianae'' *'' Verbascum georgicum'' *'' Verbascum glabratum'' *'' Verbascum glandulosum'' *'' Verbascum gnaphalodes'' *'' Verbascum graecum'' *'' Verbascum guicciardii'' *'' Verbascum halacsyanum'' *'' Verbascum haraldi-adnani'' *'' Verbascum hervieri'' *'' Verbascum herzogii'' *'' Verbascum humile'' *'' Verbascum jankaeanum'' *'' Verbascum laciniatum'' *'' Verbascum lagurus'' *'' Verbascum lanatum'' *'' Verbascum lasianthum'' *'' Verbascum laxum'' *'' Verbascum leucophyllum'' *'' Verbascum lesnovoensis'' *'' Verbascum levanticum'' *'' Verbascum litigiosum'' *'' Verbascum longifolium'' *'' Verbascum lychnitis'' *'' Verbascum macedonicum'' *'' Verbascum macrocarpum'' *'' Verbascum macrurum'' *'' Verbascum mallophorum'' *'' Verbascum megricum'' *'' Verbascum mucronatum'' *'' Verbascum nevadense'' *'' Verbascum nicolai'' *'' Verbascum nigrum'' *'' Verbascum niveum'' *'' Verbascum nobile'' *'' Verbascum nudicaule'' *'' Verbascum olympicum'' *'' Verbascum oreophilum'' *'' Verbascum orientale'' *'' Verbascum orphanideum'' *'' Verbascum ovalifolium'' *'' Verbascum ozturkii'' * ''Verbascum'' × ''patris'' *'' Verbascum pelium'' *'' Verbascum pentelicum'' *'' Verbascum phlomoides'' *'' Verbascum phoeniceum'' *'' Verbascum pinnatifidum'' *'' Verbascum pseudonobile'' *'' Verbascum pterocaulon'' *'' Verbascum pulverulentum'' *'' Verbascum purpureum'' *'' Verbascum pyramidatum'' *'' Verbascum reiseri'' *'' Verbascum roripifolium'' *'' Verbascum rotundifolium'' * ''Verbascum'' × ''rubiginosum'' *'' Verbascum rupestre'' *''

Verbascum salgirensis ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *'' Verbascum samniticum'' *'' Verbascum schachdagense'' *'' Verbascum siculum'' *''

Verbascum sinaiticum ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

'' *''

Verbascum sinuatum ''Verbascum sinuatum'', commonly known as the scallop-leaved mullein,Wild Flowers of Israel
Verbascum ...

'' *'' Verbascum songaricum'' *'' Verbascum speciosum'' *'' Verbascum spinosum'' *'' Verbascum suworowianum'' *'' Verbascum szovitsianum'' *''

'' *'' Verbascum undulatum'' *'' Verbascum vandasii'' *'' Verbascum varians'' *'' Verbascum virgatum'' *'' Verbascum xanthophoeniceum'' *'' Verbascum zuccarinii''

References

External links

*
Verbascum.org
{{Authority control

Verbascum ''Verbascum'' is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. Mullein or "mullein le ...

Medicinal plants Scrophulariaceae genera

Description

Cultivation

Select species

See also

References

Further reading

External links