Verbascum thapsus   Great Mullein C DD N

Verbascum thapsus whole Verbascum thapsus close

Also known as Common Mullein, this is commonest of the Verbascum genus but with biennials you never know where they'll turn up. I find it on waste ground and unmanaged verges. Once it has established itself it can't easily be missed as it can reach 2m in height. The seed bank is long lived so once it has grown flowered and seeded new plants could pop up any time in the future.

The specific name thapsus is thought to have originated from the studies made by the very first systematic botanist Theophrastus (about 370 BC) who described plants according to how useful they were in two collections of lectures and notes: De causus plantarum and Historia plantarum. These were used (plagiarised) later by Pliny who wrote the much more famous Historia naturalis. Verbascum thapsus was found near the Sicilian town of Thapsos near Syracuse (now an archeological site).

Verbascum thapsus is common in England, Wales and much of eastern Scotland even beyond Inverness but it is rare in north western Scotland. In Ireland it is fairly common with a tendency to be commoner in the east.

Verbascum thapsus

Verbascum thapsus Great Mullein

St Abb's Head, Berwickshire, 14th July 2006

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Verbascum thapsus Great Mullein

Verge near Stanlow, Cheshire 30th June 2005

Added on 2nd July 2005, updated 20th February 2012

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