VERBASCUM. 



fiances alternately branched, many-ilovvered, panicled, with 

 racemofe ftalks ; in V. Myconi only altogether wanting. 

 Leaves all radical the firft year, fubfequently all cauline : 

 llalked, fefTile, or decurrent ; always alternate, iimple, ob- 

 long ; undivided, lobed or pinnatifid ; fimply or doubly cre- 

 nate or toothed, rarely entire ; generally covered with denfe, 

 white, Ihaggyor ftarry, or mealy and deciduous, woollinefs ; 

 fometimes nearly fmooth. Floivers racemofe, generally 

 aggregate, crowded, and very numerous ; moftly yellow, 

 rarely yellowirti-white, or purple, or brownifh. Brai'ieai 

 moftly ovate, or lanceolate, pointed, of two orders, external 

 and internal. The whole genus is nearly, if not entirely, 

 European, the fpecies found i-i America, except perhaps 

 V. Claytoni of Purfn and Michaux, havmg been apparently 

 introduced from this quarter of the world. The Levant 

 produces many fine ones, not well known to Linnaeus. 

 Seft. 1. Leaves decurrent. 



I. V. Thapfus. Great Mullein ; or High Taper. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 252. WiUd. n. I. Schrad. n. 1. Purfh n. i. 

 Fl. Brit. n. I. Engl. Bot. t. 549. Fl. Dan. t. 631. 

 (Tapfus barbatus ; Ger. Em. 773. <pXoij.o; Xsvxn «ppiiv ; 

 Diofc. book 4. chap. 104. ) — Leaves decurrent, crenate, 

 woolly on both fides. Stem fimple. Clufter denfe. Flow- 

 ers almoft feffile Frequent throughout Europe, on banks 



and wafte ground, flowering in July and Augull ; very 

 common in Greece. Mr. Purfh obferves that, though com- 

 mon in America, this plant was probably introduced from 

 Europe ; neverthelefs it fprings up abundantly in the moft 

 remote parts of the co\nitry, in fields newly cleared and 

 burnt. The root is biennial. Stem from three to five feet 

 high, ereft like a ftaff, woolly, winged with decurrent acute 

 leaves, which are clothed with white entangled ftarry wool, 

 like cloth or fiannel. Flowers very numerous, large, of a 

 bright golden -yellow, with orange-coloured hairy fiamens, 

 and roundifti red anthers. Mr. Robfon of Darlington com- 

 municated to Dr. Withering a mule plant, produced under 

 his own eyes, from this fpecies impregnated by V. nigrum. 

 Mr. D. Turner found a correfponding fpecimen, now before 

 US, at Barton, near SwafFham, Norfolk. The leaves are 

 but (lightly decurrent. Spike elongated and flender. — The 

 leaves of V. Thapfus, about a handful boiled in a pint of 

 milk, fweetened with fugar, fl:rained, and the milk taken at 

 bed-time, are ufeful in coughs, and more efpecially fervice- 

 able in allaying the irritation of the piles. V. pulverulentum 

 has the fame qualities. — V. thapfiforme, Schrad. n. 2. feems 

 fcarcely more than a variety with a larger corolla, and two 

 of the anthers oblong, inftead of their being ail round. 



2. V. crajfijolium. Thick-leaved Mullein. Schrad. n. 3. 

 " Hoffmannfegg and Link Lufit. v. I. 213. t. 26." — 

 " Leaves decurrent, obfcurely crenate, denfely woolly ; 

 the upper ones mther acute. Clufter denfe. Flowers al- 

 moft feffile. Filaments fmooth. Two of the anthers ob- 

 long." — Found in fandy ground in Portugal. The fmooth 

 jxlaments afford the chief diftinftion between this plant and 

 the laft, at leaft its variety called thapfiforme. Experience 

 muft ftiew, by cultivation, whether this be permanent. 



■i.V . cufpidatum. Pointed-leaved Mullein. Schrad. n. 4. 

 t. I . f. I . (V. Thapfus ; Ehrh. PI. Off. n. 1 1 1 . )— Leaves 

 decurrent, crenate, woolly on both fides ; the upper ones 

 pointed. Clufter fomewhat interrupted. Two of the an- 

 thers oblong Found m mountainous woods near Vienna. 



Schott. Near Upfal. Ehrhart. This Dr. Schrader mentions 

 as the V. Thopfis of the Vienna botanifts, agreeing in habit 

 with the two foregoing, but the jlem is of more humble 

 ttature, and more llender. Leaves fmaller, lefs denfely 

 woolly ; the upper ones taper-pointed. Inforefcence and 

 fowers more like V.ptiomoides, the r/u/?fr being interrupted, 



I 



the Jloivers more ftalked, and aggregate in little tufts. 

 Corolla large. Two \ongtx Jlamens having oblong anthers ; 

 and in our fpecimen from Ehrhart fmooth [^/amfn/j-, though 

 the reft are hairy. 



4. V. nlveum. Snow-white Mullein. Tenore Hort. 

 Neap. 109. Schrad. n. 5. — Leaves half-decurrent, crenate ; 

 woolly and very white beneath ; more flightly fo above. 

 Clufter denfe. Flowers nearly feffile. Anthers uniform. 

 — Found near Naples. Stem two or three feet high, round ; 

 at length fmooth and browniih. Leaves thickifh, foft ; 

 their upper furface becoming green and flightly downy, 

 though the under is fnow-white. Flowers yellow, in tufts, 

 alnioit feffile, about the fize of V. Thapfus. Filaments 

 clothed with white wool. Schroder. This appears to be 

 really a very diflinft fpecies. 



J. V. denJiflorum. Denfe-flowered Mullein. " Bertol. 

 PI. Rar. Ital. v. 3. 52." Schrad. n.4. — " Leaves downy ; 

 the radical ones lanceolate, elongated, crenate, deeply fer- 

 rated at the bafe ; upper ftem-leaves pointed, toothed, half- 

 decurrent. Clufter denfe. Flowers aggregate, nearly 

 feffile." — Found on the fummit of mount Bruciana, be- 

 tween Carrara and Maffa. Stem four or five feet high, an- 

 gular, clothed with tawny woollinefs, efpecially the upper 

 part. Radical Laves more than eighteen inches long, two 

 or three broad in the middle ; green above ; moft hairy be- 

 neath ; thofe of the ftem gradually fliorter upward, ovate, 

 pointed, feffile, with a fmall decurrent wing on each fide, 

 more downy all over, efpecially the uppermoft. Clujler 

 very denfe, above a foot long. Flowers large, yellow, in 

 tufts on extremely fhort ftalks. Puhefcence of the whole 

 plant yellowiih or tawny, compofed of branched entangled 

 hairs, and much the moft denfe in the upj>>'r part. Bertoltni. 



6. V. thapfoides. Long-fpiked Mulli in. Schrad. r. 7. 

 t. 5. f. 2. " Hoffmannf. et Link Lufit. v. I. 214, exclud- 

 ing the fynonyms." — Leaves finely crenate, downy ; radi- 

 cal ones oblong-lanceolate ; the reft oblong, acute, half- 

 decurrent. Flowers on ftiort ftalks, aggregate, rather 

 crowded. Anthers nearly equal. — Native of Portugal. 

 Perennial. Stem three or four feet high, or more, generally 

 branching at the top into feveral long, rather flender, 

 tolerably denfe clujlers of yellow Jlonvers, fmaller than V. 

 Thapfus. Schrader. We conceive this to be no other than 

 the Linnxan V. Thapji ; fee V. Lychn'uis. 



7. V. macranthiim. Great-flowered Mullein. Schrad. 

 n. 8. " HofFni.innf. et Link Lufit. v. i. 215. t. 27." — 

 Leaves finely crenate, downy ; radical ones elliptic-oblong, 

 tapering at the bafe ; the reft oblong, acute, half-decurrent. 

 Clufter interrupted, with diftant tufts of flowers. Two of 

 the anthers oblong. — Found by way fides, in the northern 

 part of Portugal. Root fuppofed to be biennial. Stem 

 two or three feet high, ereft, fimple, at length fmooth and 

 of a purplifli-brown. Leaves thick, reticulated with veins 

 beneath ; their upper fide becoming green and almoft 

 naked by age : radical ones ftalked, three or four inches 

 long, and half as broad. Flowers large, handfome, yel- 

 low. Hair of ihejlamens orange-coloured. Capfule fmall. 

 Schrader. 



8. V .phlomo'ides. Southern Woolly Mullein. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 253. Willd. n. 5. Ait. n. 6. Schrad. n. 10. Sm. 

 Fl. Grsec. S'bth. t. 224, unpubl. (V. foliis radicalibus 

 ovatis petiolatis, &c. ; Mill. Ic. 182. t. 273. V. rugulo- 

 fum ; WiUd. Enum. 224. V. thapfoides ; Villars Dauph. 

 v. 2. 490, according to a fpecimen from the author. Schrad. ) 



/3. V. auflrale ; Schrad. n. 9. t. 2. 



Leaves ovate, finely crenate, downy on both fides ; lower 

 ones ilalked ; upper pointed, clafping the ftem, flightly 

 decurrent, Clufter interrupted. — Native of barren wafte 



ground 



