VERBASCUM. 



between nigrum and Lychnitls ; or it may be a variety of 

 gallkum. 



25. V. nigrum. Dark, or Black, Mullein. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 253. Willd. n. 8. FI. Brit. n. 4. Engl. Bot. t. 59. 

 Ger. Em. 775. Fl. Dan. t. 1088. (V. tertium ; Matth. 

 Valgr. V. 2. 489.) — Leaves oblong-heartfhaped, ftalked, 

 V7aved and crcnate, flightly downy, duller folitary, fpiked, 

 many-flowered. — Native of banks, and road-fides, in moil 

 parts of Europe. With us it occurs chiefly on a chalky 

 or gravelly foil, in Ihady lanes, or on grafly hillocks, flower- 

 ing in July and Augufk. The rooMs perennial. Stem ere&., 

 fimple, angular, leafy, brOwn or purplifli, two or three 

 feet high, rarely branched. Leaves of a fine deep green, 

 not hoary, though fomewhat downy ; all flalked, except 

 the very fmall upper ones. Clujler very long, flender, com- 

 paft, though here and there interrupted, compofed of in- 

 numerable tufted golden Jloiuers, with bearded violet Jila- 

 ments, and orange anthers. This is altogether a very ele- 

 gant fpecies. 



We received, many years fince, from the late Mr. Davall, 

 fpecimens and "feeds of a variety of this fpecies, having 

 ■white fliowers. Thefe dried fpecimens differ little from our 

 wild plant, except a flight degree of luxuriance, owing to 

 culture, nor can it be doubted that they are the white- 

 flowered variety, mentioned by Cafpar Bauhin, and others. 

 But the far more luxuriant progeny from their feeds, in 

 lady Amelia Hume's garden, bore large copper-coloured 

 flowers, almofl: hke F. cupreum. Curt. Mag. t. 1226, which, 

 but for its ioWtzry Jlomerjlalis, we fliould believe to be our 

 plant. Such is the Proteus-like nature of this whimfical 

 genus ! 



26. V. ferruglneum- Rufl;y Mullein. Ait. n. 9, ex- 

 cluding the reference to Andrews. Willd. n. 7 " Leaves 



fomewhat villous, wrinkled ; thofe on the ftem nearly feffile, 

 equally crenate ; radical ones oblong-heartfl\aped, doubly 

 prenate." — Native of the fouth of Europe ; faid to have 

 been cultivated, at Edinburgh, by Mr. Sutherland, in 1683, 

 and marked by Mr. Alton as a hardy perennial, flowering 

 from May to Auguft. We have no fpecimen, but we re- 

 member to have examined an authentic one in fir Jofeph 

 Banks's herbarium, which proved totally unlike the Greek 

 plant of Dr. Sibthorp, figured as ferrugineum by Mr. An- 

 drews, which is our y. trifle, hereafter defcribed. Such 

 errors are excufable in fuch a tribe. We have a notion that 

 the fpecimen betrayed fome affinity to F. Boerhaavii, n. 20, 

 but we dare not aflert it. 



27. V. trifle. Brown-flowered Mullein. Prodr. Fl. 

 Grsc. n. 529. (V. ferrugineum ; Andr. Repof. t. 162.) 

 — Leaves elliptical, wavy and partly toothed, nearly 

 fmooth ; radical ones ftalked. Clufter folitary, fimple. 



Stem leafy Gathered by Dr. Sibthorp on mount Athos. 



By his means the plant has been introduced into the gardens 

 of England, where it proves a hardy perennial, flowering mofl; 

 part of the fummer, and propagating itfelf copioufly by 

 feed, without requiring any care. This fpecies difi'ers from 

 all the foregoing, in its very long fimple chifler terminating 

 tlie Jlem, at firft drooping, but gradually becoming creft, 

 and, as it flowers, extending itfelf to the height of five 

 feet, being compofed of innumerable, fcattered, fohtarj', 

 fpreading, almoft capillary partial ftalks, each three or four 

 times as long as its accompanying lanceolate bradea, and 

 bearing a folitary inodorous^oTO^r, an inch broad, of a pe- 

 culiarly dull greenifh or yellowilh brown, whofe^/rtmra/J are 

 denfely bearded with purple. Sometimes, from luxuriance, 

 two of thefe ftalks grow together, but each has always its 

 own hraSea. The whole clnjier, braSeas, and obtufe calyx, 

 are clothed with glandular vifcid hairs. The radical leaves 



Vol. XXXVl. 



are numerous, on lon^fh ftalks, wrinkled, (lightly dovvnyj 

 a little vifcid, green, reticulated with veins ; their margin 

 varioufly waved, or bluntly toothed : thofe on the ftem are 

 nearly feffile, ovate or heart-fllaped, more or lefs acute. We 

 cannot perceive any alteration in this plant after cultivating 

 it for fifteen years, and yet there is fcarcely a permanent 

 fpecific charafter, to diftinguifh it from the following. Can 

 Tournefort's Blaltarta orientalis, buguU folio, &c. Voy. v. 2. 

 83, with a plate, acknowledged to be a variable plant, pof- 

 fibly belong to our trifle ? 



28. V. phieniceum. Purple-flowered Mullein. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 254. Willd. n. 9. Ait. n. u. Jacq. Auftr. 

 t. 125. Curt. Mag. t. 885. (Blattaiia fiore purpureo; 

 Ger. Em. 776.) — Leaves ovate, crenate, fmooth, chiefly 

 radical and feffil';. Clufter folitary, fimple. Stem nearly 



leaflefs Native of Auftria, and the fouth of Europe. A 



hardy perennial, cultivated in England ever fince Gerarde's 

 time. It is of more humble growth than the laft. Leaves 

 chiefly radical, and nearly feffile, .xarcely at all downy ; 

 their margin fimply or doubly crenate. Injiorefcence like 

 the preceding, but xh^ flowers are of a dark violet hue, and 

 the Jlamens lefs hairy. Sometimes the flem becomes leafy, 

 as in Jacquin's figure, and perhaps, as he reprefents it, 

 branched ; but we have never feen an inftance of the latter. 



29. V. ovalifolium. Oval-leaved Mullein. Donn. Cant, 

 ed. 5. 45. Sims in Curt. Mag. t. 1037. Ait. n. 2 — 

 " Leaves oval, feffile, acutely crenate ; fmoothifh on the 

 upper fide. Stem ereft, fimple. Flowers fpiked." — Na- 

 tive of mount Caucafus. Introduced into England by Mr. 

 Loddiges, in 1804. A hardy biennial, flowering from 

 July to September. This has the afpeft of feveral fpecies 

 in our firft feftion, the flowers being as large as any of thofe, 

 yellow, with orange-coloured, partly hairy, Jlamens ; and 

 nearly feffile, in a long Aenie Jpiie. But the leaves are not 

 decurrent, nor, though downy, at all hoary or woolly. 

 We have feen no fpecimen. 



Dr. Sims has exhibited in Curt. Mag. t. 1226, by the 

 name of V. cupreum, a Mullein, whole ftalked leaves, and 

 rzcemo{e flowers, variegated with tawny-buff and purple, 

 each on a partial flalk of confiderable length, all appear fo 

 different from V. ovalifolium, the braSeas, and calyx like- 

 wife, being altogether unlike the figure of this fpecies, that, 

 but for our confidence in its excellent cultivator Mr. Lod- 

 diges, we could fcarcely believe it came up from feeds of 

 the ovalifolium. Perhaps, as Dr. Sims fuggefts, the parent 

 may have been impregnated by V. phaniceum, or we would 

 rather fay our trifle. When the plant blooms within-doors, 

 the corolla is pale yellow, with a purple eye. The infpec- 

 tion of this plant is enough to daunt the moft ardent ftudent 

 of fpecies of Verbafcum, and to caufe a general miftruft of 

 them all. 



30. V. virgatum. Large -flowered Primrofe -leaved Mul- 

 lein. With. Bot. Arr. 250. Fl. Brit. n. 5. Engl Bot. 

 t. 550. Ait. n. 12. (Blattaria flore amplo ; Ger. Era. 

 778. B. magno flore ; Bauh. Hift, v. 3. 859. Lob. Ic. 

 564.) — Leaves ovato-lanceolate, toothed, feffile; heart- 

 ihaped at the bafe ; radical ones downy, and fomewhat 

 lyrate. Stem branched. Flowers axillary, on ftiort ftalks, 

 partly aggregate. — Native of Worcefterfhire. Biennial, 

 flowering in July and Auguft. Stem five or fix feet 

 high. Whole plant green, not hoary, though more or lefs 

 covered with ftiort, prominent, often forked, glandular 

 hairs. The radical leaves, which refemble thofe of a prim- 

 rofe, arc always fo clothed. Thofe of the ftem are very 

 numerous, acute, toothed or fliarply crenate, broad and 

 rounded at the bafe, gradually diminifliing upwards. Flowtn 

 from the bofomsof many of the upper leaves, large, yellow, 



5 E fome 



