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Common Mullein
Verbascum thapsus
33.9762, -84.5797
Field Notes
Description:
In the first year it produces a low vegetative rosette up to 24 inches in diameter, remains thought the winter, then produces a stout flowering stem in the succeeding growing season. The stem is densely woolly with branched hairs. Leaves are alternate, oblong-obovate to obovate-lanceolate, blue-grey green, woolly and 4-16 inches long including the petiole. Leaves become progressively smaller up the flowering stem. Flowers are sessile (attached to stem), borne in long terminal spikes, bright yellow, 5 fused petals, and 1 inch in diameter. Plants die after flowering. Fruits are wooly oval capsules that split open when mature releasing 100,000 to 180,000 seeds from the parent plant. Seeds are dispersed by wind and animals, and may remain viable in the soil for over 100 years.
Brought over from Europe by settlers, it was used as a medicinal herb, as a remedy for coughs and diarrhea and a respiratory stimulant for the lungs when smoked. A methanol extract from common mullein has been used as an insecticide for mosquito larvae.
Habitat:
It prefers dry sandy soils but can grow in chalk and limestone. It can be found in neglected meadows, forest openings, pastures, fence rows, roadsides, and industrial areas.
Notes:
Spotted on top of Kennesaw Mountain
Once established it grows quickly to form a dense ground cover. It can overtake and displace native species. At the high densities, it appears to prevent establishment of native herbs and grasses following fires or other disturbances.
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