VERBASCUM. 



{V. blattariae foliis nigrum, amplioribus floribus luteis, api- 

 cibus purpurafcentibus ; Bosrh. Lugd.-Bat. v. 1.228.) — 

 JLeaves obovate, fomewhat lyrate, doubly crenate, veiny, 

 nightly downy. Spike interrupted. Flowers in nearly 

 felfile tufts. Bratteas all linear. — Said to be a native of the 

 fouth of Europe. The Linnsan fpecimen grew in the 

 Upfal garden. This fpecies is very little known, perhaps 

 from Linnseus having cited a plate of Miller's, which is as 

 little like his fpecimen as almoll any Verhafcum can be, and 

 belongs to V.phlomoides. Hence V. 5ofr/jartW( is admitted, 

 without fufficient grounds, into the catalogue of our garden 

 plants. We have, at leaft, never feen any thing anfwering 

 to it. The leaves are a foot long, and almoft four inches 

 broad, membranous, copioufly reticulated with veins ; pin- 

 natifid, in. a lyrate manner, at the bafe ; nearly fmooth on 

 the upper furface ; the under partly clothed with light, de- 

 ciduous, ftarry wool, refembling mouldinefs. Spikes (whe- 

 ther folitary or numerous, does not appear from the 

 fpecimen) a foot long, flightly and loofely woolly, of 

 numerous fcattered tufts of large yellowj?owfr.f with purple 

 Jtamens. 



21. V. h<smorrhoidak. Madeira Mullein. Ait. n. 5. 



Willd. n. 4 " Leaves ovate-oblong, downy, flightly and 



minutely crenate ; tapering at the bafe. Clutters elongated. 

 Flowers in feflile tufts, without bratleas." — Native of Ma- 

 deira, from whence it was brought to Kew by Mr. Maflbn, 

 in 1777. This is marked as a biennial greenhoufe plant, 

 flowering from June to Auguft. 



22. V. Lychnitis. White Mullein. Linn. Sp. PI. 253. 

 Willdn.6, i9. Fl. Brit. n. 2. Engl. Bot. t. 58. Fl. Dan. 

 t. 586. Villars Dauph. v. 2. 490. Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 

 491. Ger. Em. 775. (V. fiore albo parvo ; Bauh. Hift. 

 V. 3. 857. Raii Syn. 287.) 



B. V. Thapfi; Linn. Sp. PI. 1669. (V. Thapfoides ; 

 Willd. n. 2. Ait. n. 3. Hudf 90. Schrad. n. 7. " Hoff- 

 mannf. et Link Lufit. v. i. 214." V. anguftifolium ra- 

 mofum, flore aurco, folio crafliore ; Bauh. Hift. v. 3. 860.) 



Leaves wedgefliaped-oblong ; ftripped of down on their 

 upper fide. Stem angular, panicled. — Native of paftures, 

 road-fides, and wafte ground, in various parts of Europe, 

 flowering in July and Auguft. In England it rarely occurs, 

 except on chalky ground in Kent, where it abounds. The 

 root is bi-'nnial, fcarcely perennial. Stem a yard high, 

 ftraight and upright, finely downy ; copioufly panicled at 

 the top. Leaves elliptic-oblong, tapering at the bafe, cre- 

 nate, reticulated with veins ; white and woolly beneath ; 

 dark green and flightly downy, or quite naked, above ; 

 thofe at the root, and lower part of the ft.em, ftalked ; the 

 reft feffile, not decurrent, all narrow at the bafe. Branches 

 of the panicle racemofe, with many woolly tufts of ftalked, 

 rather fmall, j?ou>frj, whofe corolla is cream-coloured, tinged 

 with yellow. Filaments yellowiih, hairy. Anthers orange- 

 coloured, uniform. 



The variety ;S, a very celebrated and much difputed 

 plant, is not preferved in the Linnnsan herbarium. It is 

 defcribed as the mule offspring of V. Lychnitis, from the 

 pollen of V. Thapfus, We have fpecimcns, artificially pro- 

 duced in this manner, by Mr. Griffith, of Garn, Denbigh- 

 fhire. Thefe agree with the Portuguefe plant, fent by 

 profefibr Link, as his V. Thapfoides. So that we conceive 

 the real V. Thapfi, or Thapfoides, is before us. Yet there 

 are parts of the Linnsean defcription, Sp. PI. 1670, that 

 puzzle us ; fuch as the purple beard attributed to the_;f/a- 

 ments of V. Lychnitis and. of this variety. Our fpccimtns 

 iire intermediate, in every rcfpeft, between Lychnitis and 

 Thapfus. Their corolla is yellow. Beard of the f laments 

 white. Upper leaves fomewhat decurrent. As the real 



fpecies of this genus evidently vary before our eyes, there 

 can be little doubt that their mule progenies are ftill more 

 uncertainly defined. 



23. V. pulverulentum. Yellow Hoary Mullein. Nor- 

 folk Mullein. Fl. Brit. n. 3. Engl. Bot. t. 487. Ait. 

 n. 8. Villars Dauph. v. 2. 490. (V. Lychnitis; Willd. 

 n. 6, a. V. pulverulentum, flore luteo parvo ; Bauh. Hift. 

 860. Raii Syn. 287. V. n.583, « ; Hall. Hift. v. i. 



^57-) 



l3. V. nigro-pulverulentum ; Fl. Brit. ibid. 



Leaves ovate-oblong, obfcurely ferrated, covered on both 

 fides with powdery deciduous vi'ool. Stem round, panicled, 



much branched Native of banks, and the borders of fields, 



on a gravelly or chalky foil, in England, Auftria, and Swit- 

 zerland, flowering in July. This beautiful and ftately 

 plant is frequent about Norwich, and moft parts of Nor- 

 folk ; alfo near Bury, Suffolk ; and, according to Ray, at 

 Wollerton, near Nottingham. No fpecies can be more dif- 

 tinft from the laft, with which it has been confounded, even 

 by Linnaeus. The root is biennial. Stem three or four feet 

 high, branched from top to bottom in a conical form, co- 

 vered with innumerable golden Jloivers, larger than the lail, 

 whotejilaments are clothed with white hairs, and their anthers 

 are vermilion. The whole herbage is inverted with white 

 meally down, eafily rubbed off. Leaves all feffile, thick and 

 woolly ; the radical ones numerous, a foot long ; upper ones 

 ovate, pointed, clafping the ftem, not decurrent. Mr. Sie- 

 ber has fent an Auftrian fpecimen of this fpecies, named ^. 

 jloccofum ; but we know not of its having been publilhed 

 under that denomination. 



Our variety /3 is found near Hellefdon, and in other parts 

 of Norfolk. 'Y\\<i leaves <ixe\\]sji pulverulentum, jlo'wers,2XiA. 

 purple woolly Jlamens, like nigrum ; fo that, according to 

 the opinion of Linnxus, the latter was the mother of this 

 apparently mule produftion. We believe it moreover to be 

 perennial. 



V. pulverulentum difplays a remarkable degree of irritabi- 

 lity, if the ftem be fmartly ftruck, twice or thrice, with a 

 fmal! ftick. In tlie fpace of a few minutes, the flowers 

 clofe, and begin to drop off, all in their turn falling to the 

 ground in the fpace of a quarter of an hour, if the wea- 

 ther be warm and ftill ; if otherwife, this quahty is lefs 

 perceptible. We were firft informed of it by the very in- 

 genious Mr. Correa de Serra. 



24. V. gaUicum. Dauphiny Mullein. Willd. n. 11. 

 (V. Chaixi ; Villars Dauph. v. 2. 491. t. 13 ; fynonyms all 

 very doubtful. ) — Leaves ovate-oblong, crenate, downy be- 

 neath ; radical ones ftalked ; heart-ftiaped and pinnatifid at 

 the bafe. Stem angular, panicled at the top. — Native of 

 feveral parts of Dauphiny, in rocky fituations. The habit 

 of this plant, its panicle, and the foft durable pubefcence 

 of the backs of its leaves, as well as the fhape of fuch as 

 grow on the ftem, moft refemble V. Lychnitis ; the yellow 



Jlowers, purple \mn-y Jlamens, as well as the fize, form, and 

 longfootjalis of the radical leaves, which are doubly crenate, 

 rather accord with y. nigrum. But thefe radical leaves 

 are remarkable for a few deep parallel fegments at their bafe. 

 We have a fpecimen from the author himfelf, or his bad 

 figure would little avail us. 



The late Mr. Donn favoured us with a fpecimen, above 

 tvventy years ago, from the Cambridge garden, of a tall 

 Mullein, agreeing with this in moft refpefts : but the lower 

 leaves are taper at the bafe, and fcarcely pinnatifid. This 

 came from Poland, and is doubtlefs V. polandicum of his 

 Hort. Cantab, ed. 5. 45 ; but unfortunately a name does 

 not make a fpecies, any more Xhaxi Jloccofum of the fame 

 ufeful work, fee our n. 23. This Polifh plant feems a mule 



between 



