
282 PLANTS GROWING IN DRY SOIL. 
Its ruthless habit of taking possession of whole fields, especially 
in New Jersey, and destroying the pasture is a constant care 
and annoyance to the farmer. It is most difficult to extirpate 
as it is tough and hard to uproot. 
It frequently falls within the experience of our friend the 
country boy to pull up the plants before they have. gone to 
seed ; and one instance is known of his having been engaged 
to MTS this service at the exorbitant wage of twenty-five 
cents a hundred. His mind, however, is poetical. He loves to 
dream of the beautiful side of the wild carrot’s character, and 
to weave romances about it in connection with Queen Anne's 
lace. ‘To bend his back over and tear his palms uprooting them 
is not tohis taste. So on the mentioned occasion he sat on the 
fence and watched other boys that he had hired at five cents a 
hundred do the work for him. 
GREAT MULLEN. VELVET OR MULLEN DOCK. 
Verbascum Thapsus. 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Figwort.  . -ale yellow. Scentless. General. Suly-September. 
Flowers: large; growing in a long, terminal spike. Calyx: of five sepals. 
Corolla : wheel-shaped with five unequal, rounded lobes. Stamens: ten; three 
taller than the others with woolly filaments. /yst//: one. Leaves: alternate; 
the basal leaves lying flatly ina circle on the ground; oblong; pale green; vel- 
vety to the touch. Stem: erect; flat. 
Although in Europe the mullen is called “‘ American velvet 
plant,’’ we can hardly claim it as indigenous to our country. 
In fact, as its specific name implies, it is a native of the island 
of Thapsus. It has visited many lands, and had quite a broad 
experience in usefulness. The Greeks made lamp wicks of the 
leaves, and the Romans, after preparing the dried stalks in suet, 
burned them as funeral torches, when they were called “ can- 
dalaria.’’ The efficacy of mullen tea for pulmonary diseases is 
still lauded by the country people, especially when used for 
beasts. It has also its place among the vanities of vanities, and 
the village belle knows well that the velvety leaf rubbed against 
her cheeks will leave a tint like that of a ripened peach. 

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