Verbascum

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Verbascum
Wavyleaf mullein, Verbascum sinuatum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Tribe: Scrophularieae
Genus: Verbascum
L.
Type species
Verbascum thapsus[1]
L.
Synonyms[2]
  • Celsia (L.)
  • Rhabdotosperma (Hartl)
  • Staurophragma (Fisch. & C. A. Mey.)

Verbascum is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (/ˈmʌlɪn/[3]), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean.[4][5]

Mullein or "mullein leaf" often refers to the leaves of Verbascum thapsus, the great or common mullein, which is frequently used in herbal medicine.

Description[edit]

Verbascum are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5 to 3.0 m (1.6 to 9.8 ft) 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[edit]

Dark mullein (V. nigrum)

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 cultivars have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

  • 'Gainsborough' (Cotswold Group)[6]
  • 'Letitia'[7]
  • 'Pink Domino' (Cotswold Group)[8]
  • 'Tropic Sun'[9]

Select species[edit]

Main article: List of Verbascum species

See also[edit]

  • Mullein moth, a species in the order Lepidoptera which feeds on Verbascum and other plants.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Nathaniel Lord Britton; Addison Brown (1947). An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions from Newfoundland to the Parallel of the Southern Boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean Westward to the 102d Meridian. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). New York Botanical Garden. p. 173.
  2. ^ "USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  3. ^ "mullein". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  4. ^ Sotoodeh, Arash (2018). "Focusing on three Verbascum L. taxa (Scrophulariaceae) of the Flora of Iran". Adansonia. 40 (13): 171. doi:10.5252/adansonia2018v40a13. S2CID 198148731.
  5. ^ Sotoodeh, Arash (2015). Histoire biogéographique et évolutive des genres Verbascum et Artemisia en Iran à l'aide de la phylogénie moléculaire (These de doctorat). France: Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier.
  6. ^ "Verbascum 'Gainsborough' (Cotswold Group)". RHS. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Verbascum 'Letitia'". RHS. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Verbascum 'Pink Domino' (Cotswold Group)". RHS. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Verbascum 'Tropic Sun'". RHS. Retrieved 5 March 2021.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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