verbascum

{{automatic taxobox

|image=Verbascum sinuatum August 2007-1.jpg

|image_caption=Wavyleaf mullein, Verbascum sinuatum

|taxon=Verbascum

|authority=L.

|type_species=Verbascum thapsus{{cite book |title=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 |volume=3 |author1=Nathaniel Lord Britton |author-link=Nathaniel Lord Britton |author2=Addison Brown |author2-link=Addison Brown |edition=2nd |publisher=New York Botanical Garden |year=1947 |page=173}}

|type_species_authority=L.

|synonyms=

Celsia {{small|(L.)}}
Rhabdotosperma {{small|(Hartl)}}
Staurophragma {{small|(Fisch. & C. A. Mey.)}}

|synonyms_ref={{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?12679 |title=USDA GRIN Taxonomy |access-date=February 11, 2014}}

}}

Verbascum is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ʌ|l|ᵻ|n}}{{OED|mullein}}), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean.{{cite journal |last1=Sotoodeh |first1=Arash |title=Focusing on three Verbascum L. taxa (Scrophulariaceae) of the Flora of Iran |journal=Adansonia |date=2018 |volume=40 |issue=13 |page=171 |doi=10.5252/adansonia2018v40a13 |s2cid=198148731 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2018Adan...40..171S }}{{cite thesis |last1=Sotoodeh |first1=Arash |title=Histoire biogéographique et évolutive des genres Verbascum et Artemisia en Iran à l'aide de la phylogénie moléculaire |date=2015 |publisher=Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier |location=France |url=https://www.theses.fr/2015TOU30184|type=These de doctorat }}

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

Verbascum are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to {{cvt|0.5|to|3.0|m|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

File:Verbascum nigrum flowers closeup.jpg

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){{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/87693/Verbascum-(Cotswold-Group)-Gainsborough/Details |title=Verbascum 'Gainsborough' (Cotswold Group) |publisher=RHS |access-date=5 March 2021}}
'Letitia'{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/94936/Verbascum-Letitia/Details |title=Verbascum 'Letitia' |publisher=RHS |access-date=5 March 2021}}
'Pink Domino' (Cotswold Group){{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/96442/Verbascum-(Cotswold-Group)-Pink-Domino/Details |title=Verbascum 'Pink Domino' (Cotswold Group) |publisher=RHS |access-date=5 March 2021}}
'Tropic Sun'{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/239016/Verbascum-Tropic-Sun/Details |title=Verbascum 'Tropic Sun' |publisher=RHS |access-date=5 March 2021}}