SCROPHULARIACE.^— FIGWORT 

 FAMILY 



COMMON MULLEIN 



Verhdscum Thdpsus 



The generic name first used by Pliny is thought to be 

 a corruption of barbascum, with beards; in allusion to 

 the velvety leaves. Thapsus because the plant was 

 very abundant in the neighborhood of the city of 

 Thapsus. 



Biennial herb with stout stems bearing a clumsy spike 

 of seed-vessels, flowers, and buds. Naturalized from Eu- 

 rope. June-November. 



Stem. — Stout, leafy, two to seven feet high, densely 

 woolly, winged by the decurrent bases of the oblong 

 leaves; often dividing at the summit into two to seven 

 branches. 



Leaves. — Basal leaves thick, pale green, velvet-hairy, 

 oblong, forming a rosette on the ground. Stem leaves 

 alternate, sessile or clasping, the petioles running down 

 the stem. The hairs that cover the surface are curiously 

 branched and felted. 



Flowers. — Pale yellow, fleeting, very few in bloom at 

 any one time, borne in large, thick, terminal spikes. 



Calyx. — Five-parted, woolly. 



Corolla. — Yellow, wheel-shaped, with five rounded 

 and spreading lobes. 



Stamens. — Five, protruding, inserted on the base of 

 the corolla, unequal; the three upper short with pale, 

 hairy filaments and short anthers; the two lower nearly 

 smooth with larger anthers. 



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