GREAT MULLEIN 



Verbascum thapsus L. 



July - August Tlu' ,i,n-oat inulliMn is to tlie plains and middle- 



Pastures, uplands western hills what the saguaro cactus is to the des- 

 ert — a massive accent upon the landscape, an ex- 

 clainaiion mark against the sky. The mullein does not approach the 

 siihstance or ijraiKlcur of the sa-aiaro, l)ut somehow, in the less dramatic 

 land of the Illinois country, it serves miuli the same purpose of accent. 



The mullein begins it^ year with a broad rosette of leaves which 

 remain against the frozen ground all winter long. The leaves are unicpie 

 among our ])lants — very lliick. furry, silvery, blue-grey-green, matted 

 with fibers which, uikIci- ;i iiii( roscopc, a])])ear as violently thorny as any 

 cactus spikes. The mullein rosette is one of the most striking, self-con- 

 tained objects to find on a winter's day. 



In spring the stalk I'-egins to rise from the middle of the rosette 

 and bears snuiller, furry, gicy-green leaves alternately upon its angled, 

 ridged surface. The stem may grow four feet tall or more before it 

 develops a flower spike. 'I'hen tlie stalk produces do/.ens of matted, closely 

 set, furry buds from which yellow, ilve-])arted ilowers open for a while, 

 then fall away as more open through the suuuner. The mullein flower 

 stalk always ha-s a rather tattered, unfinished, worn look, as the flowers 

 open here and there upon it without any apparent pattern or plan. 



With frosts, the mullein stalks stand bereft of leaves, but the stems 

 are stiff and sturdy, the flower stalks solid, and there the mullein stands 

 silhouetted against the autumn sky. The outline of the mullein now 

 seems much like that angular saguaro which stands stark and dramatic 

 against a desert background. 



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