62 
WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
from the apex down the cell-walls (septicidally) by 2 valves. Stately, handsome herbs, often very 
woolly, with alternate leaves, the root-leaves, in the early stages, spreading on the ground like a 
rosette. 
(1) Great Mullein. (Verbas'cum Thap'sus.) — Flower-spike dense, usually unbranched ; leaves 
continued down the stem (decurrent), woolly on both sides. 
(2) Hoary Mullein. (Verbas'cum pulverulen'tum.) — Flower-cluster branched (panicle) ; 
stamens scarlet, with white hairs ; leaves not continued down the stem, very woolly on 
both sides. 
(3) White Mullein. (Verbas'cum Lychnitis.) — Flower-cluster branched ; stamens whitish, 
with white hairs ; leaves smooth above, woolly underneath. 
(4) Dark Mullein. (Verbas'cum nigrum.) — Flower-cluster usually unbranched ; stamens with 
purple hairs ; leaves smooth above, woolly underneath. 
(5) Primrose-leaved Mullein. (Verbas'cum virgatum.) — Flowers very large, in a long dense 
cluster ; stamens with purple hairs ; leaves green with a few gland-tipped hairs. 
(6) *Moth Mullein. (Verbas'cum Blattdria.) — Flowers in an interrupted cluster; stamens 
with purple hairs ; leaves green with a few gland-tipped hairs. 
1. Great Mullein. (Verbas'cum Thap'sus. Linn.) — As just described. The flowers 
are about 1 inch across, yellow, almost stalkless, in a dense terminal spike ; the 2 longer stamens 
are smooth ; the stem is stout, round and woolly, 2-4 feet high, usually unbranched (simple) ; 
and the leaves are large, oblong, pointed, slightly scalloped and wavy, thick and softly woolly 
on both sides, narrowing to the base and running down the stem on either side (decurrent). 
\Plate 23. 
Common locally. On road- and hill-sides, and in waste places, often found growing with 
foxgloves ; in England, the south of Scotland, and Ireland. June— September. Biennial. 
2. Hoary Mullein. (Verbas'cum pulverulen'tum. Vill.) — Flowers f inch across, 
bright yellow, shortly stalked, in small clusters up the main stem and branches (panicle) ; stamens 
nearly equal, scarlet, with white hairs. [As described in the genus Mullein (Verbascum).] The 
stem is 2-3 feet high, round, stout, woolly, and much branched ; the leaves are large, broadly 
oblong, slightly scalloped (crenate), softly woolly on both sides, the lower ones shortly 
stalked and the upper ones stalkless (sessile) and rounded at the base. The whole plant is 
densely covered with mealy greyish-white starry hairs, which, however, are easily rubbed off. 
Rare, local. On roadsides and waste places in Norfolk and Suffolk. July. Biennial. 
3. White Mullein. (Verbas'cum Lychnitis. Linn.) — A similar species with rather 
smaller flowers, about \ inch across, pale yellow to white ; whitish stamens with all the filaments 
having white woolly hairs; stem stout, round, 18 inches to 4 feet high, sprinkled with minute 
white hairs ; and the leaves green above and woolly and powdery underneath. 
Rare, local. On roadsides and waste places in some of the central and southern counties of 
England. June— August. Biennial. 
4. Dark Mullein. (Verbas'cum nigrum. Linn.)— Another similar species with bright 
yellow flowers about £ inch across, in small clusters up the stem, which is usually unbranched 
(simple); equal stamens, all clothed with purple hairs; stem 18 inches to 3 feet high, usually 
unbranched (simple), angular, slightly woolly ; and the leaves scalloped (crenate), nearly smooth 
above and thickly woolly beneath, somewhat heart-shaped (cordate), the root-leaves very’ 
large and stalked, graduating into stalkless, small leaves at the top which pass into the flower- 
bracts. 
