Great mullein

Description

Great mullein is an unmistakable biennial herb. In its first year it forms a large, flat rosette of oval leaves, thick and covered with dense, silvery-grey down that makes them as soft as felt. In the second year a single sturdy stem rises up to two metres, ending in a crowded spike of five-petalled yellow flowers. The flowers open a few at a time along the candle throughout the summer.

Habitat and distribution

Native to Europe, Asia and North Africa, it has naturalised across much of the temperate world, from the Americas to Oceania. It is a pioneer of disturbed ground, growing on roadsides, waste land, quarries and stony, sun-baked slopes where few other plants take hold.

Traditional uses

It has a long history in folk medicine: flowers and leaves were used in infusions to soothe coughs and respiratory complaints. In the Middle Ages the dried stalk, soaked in fat, served as a torch, the origin of several of its many common names.

Cultivation

It is extremely easy and suited to naturalistic gardens and dry areas. It wants full sun and a poor, well-drained soil; it tolerates drought well and dislikes rich, moist ground. It is propagated from seed and readily self-sows.

• Sow in summer for flowering the following year
• Leave the dry spikes: they are decorative and feed birds
• Do not fertilise: it prefers lean soils

Did you know?

The woolly leaves were once used as makeshift insoles or as tinder to start fires. The plant is much visited by bees and other pollinating insects. The seeds contain mildly toxic compounds and should not be eaten.