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The Mulleins (Verbascum) are a genus of about 250 species of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae
Scrophulariaceae

Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family, is a family of flowering plants. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with zygomorphic flowers....
). They are native to Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.

They are biennial
Biennial plant

A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months....
 or perennial plant
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s, rarely annuals
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
 or subshrub
Subshrub

A subshrub is a horticultural rather than strictly botany category of woody perennial plant. It is distinguished from a shrub by its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or persisting only for a few years....
s, growing to 0.5-3 m tall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 at ground level, subsequently sending up a tall flowering stem. The leaves are spirally arranged, often densely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species.






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Encyclopedia


The Mulleins (Verbascum) are a genus of about 250 species of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae
Scrophulariaceae

Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family, is a family of flowering plants. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with zygomorphic flowers....
). They are native to Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.

They are biennial
Biennial plant

A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months....
 or perennial plant
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s, rarely annuals
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
 or subshrub
Subshrub

A subshrub is a horticultural rather than strictly botany category of woody perennial plant. It is distinguished from a shrub by its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or persisting only for a few years....
s, growing to 0.5-3 m tall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 at ground level, subsequently sending up a tall flowering stem. The leaves are spirally arranged, often densely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s have five symmetrical petals; petal colours in different species include yellow (most common), orange, red-brown, purple, blue or white. The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is a capsule
Capsule (fruit)

In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a dehiscent structure composed of two or more carpels, that, at maturity, split apart to release the seeds within....
 containing numerous minute seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s.

Toxicity


The entire plant contains coumarin
Coumarin

Coumarin is a chemical compound ; a toxin found in many plants, notably in high concentration in the tonka bean, vanilla grass, woodruff, mullein, and bison grass....
 and rotenone
Rotenone

Rotenone is an odorless chemical that is used as a broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide, and pesticide. It occurs naturally in the roots and stems of several plants such as the jicama vine plant....
, with the highest concentrations of these compounds present in the plant's seeds. The plant has a long history of use as a medicine, and is an effective treatment for asthma and respiratory disorders. Extracts made from the plant's flowers are a very effective treatment for ear infections. Although this plant is a recent arrival to North America, Native Americans used the ground seeds of this plant as a paralytic fish poison due to their high levels of rotenone
Rotenone

Rotenone is an odorless chemical that is used as a broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide, and pesticide. It occurs naturally in the roots and stems of several plants such as the jicama vine plant....
. The seeds of this plant should not be consumed and can cause internal hemmoraging if ingested. The high coumarin content of the seeds makes the plant an effective blood thinner. Coumarin is the primary ingredient used in rat poisons. Ingestion of rotenone
Rotenone

Rotenone is an odorless chemical that is used as a broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide, and pesticide. It occurs naturally in the roots and stems of several plants such as the jicama vine plant....
 has been linked as a causative agent of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills and speech, as well as other functions....
.

Selected species

  • Verbascum acaule (Bory & Chaub.) Kuntze
  • Verbascum adeliae Heldr.
  • Verbascum adenanthum Bornm.
  • Verbascum adrianopolitanum Podp.
  • Verbascum anisophylum Murb.
  • Verbascum arcturus L.
  • Verbascum argenteum Ten.
  • Verbascum baldaccii Degen
  • Verbascum banaticum Schrad.
  • Verbascum barnadesii Vahl
  • Verbascum bithynicum Boiss.
  • Verbascum blattaria
    Verbascum blattaria

    Verbascum blattaria is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae....
     L. - Moth mullein
  • Verbascum boerhavii L.
  • Verbascum boissieri (Heldr. & Sart.) Kuntze
  • Verbascum botuliforme Murb.
  • Verbascum bombyciferum Boiss.
  • Verbascum bugulifolium Lam.
  • Verbascum chaixii Vill. - Nettle-leaved mullein
  • Verbascum charidemii Murb.
  • Verbascum chinense (L.) Santapau
  • Verbascum chrysanthum Murb.
  • Verbascum creticum (L.) Cav.
  • Verbascum cylindrocarpum Griseb.
  • Verbascum cyleneum (Boiss. & Heldr. ) Kuntze
  • Verbascum daenzeri (Fauché & Chaub.) Kuntze
  • Verbascum davidoffii Murb.
  • Verbascum decorum Velen.
  • Verbascum delphicum Boiss. & Heldr.
  • Verbascum densiflorum Bertol.
  • Verbascum dentifolium Delile
  • Verbascum dieckianum Borbás & Degen
  • Verbascum dimoniei Velen.
  • Verbascum dingleri Mattf. & Stef.
  • Verbascum dumulosum P.H.Davis
  • Verbascum durmitoreum Rohlena
  • Verbascum epixanthinum Boiss. & Heldr.
  • Verbascum eriophorum Godr.
  • Verbascum euboicum Murb. & Rech.f.
  • Verbascum foetidum Boiss. & Heldr.
  • Verbascum formosum Fisch. ex Schrank
  • Verbascum friedrichsthalianum Kuntze
  • Verbascum georgicum Benth.
  • Verbascum glabratum Friv.
  • Verbascum glandulosum Delile
  • Verbascum gnaphalodes M.Bieb.
  • Verbascum graecum Heldr. & Sart. ex Boiss.
  • Verbascum guicciardii Heldr. ex Boiss.
  • Verbascum halacsyanum Sint. & Bornm. ex Halácsy
  • Verbascum haussknechtii Heldr. ex Hausskn.
  • Verbascum hervieri Degen
  • Verbascum herzogii Bornm.
  • Verbascum humile Janka
  • Verbascum hypoleucum Boiss. & Heldr.
  • Verbascum jankaeanum Pancic
  • Verbascum laciniatum (Poir.) Kuntze
  • Verbascum lagurus Fisch. & C.A.Mey.
  • Verbascum lanatum Schrad.
  • Verbascum lasianthum Boiss. ex Benth.
  • Verbascum leianthum Benth.
  • Verbascum leucophylum Griseb.
  • Verbascum levanticum I.K.Ferguson
  • Verbascum litigiosum Samp.
  • Verbascum longifolium Ten.
  • Verbascum lychnitis L. - White mullein
  • Verbascum macedonicum Kosanin & Murb.
  • Verbascum macrurum Ten.
  • Verbascum malophorum Boiss. & Heldr.
  • Verbascum mucronatum Lam.
  • Verbascum nevadense Boiss.
  • Verbascum nicolai Rohlena
  • Verbascum nigrum
    Verbascum nigrum

    Verbascum nigrum L. is a species of biennial plant or short-lived perennial plant herbaceous plants in the genus Verbascum , native to dry open sites in Europe and the Mediterranean region. It grows to 0.5-1.5 m....
     L. - Dark mullein
  • Verbascum niveum Ten.
  • Verbascum nobile Velen.
  • Verbascum gypsicola Vural & Aydogdu
  • Verbascum olympicum Boiss.
  • Verbascum orientale (L.) Al.
  • Verbascum orphanideum Murb.
  • Verbascum ovalifolium Donn ex Sims
  • Verbascum paniculatum Wulf.
  • Verbascum pelium Halácsy
  • Verbascum pentelicum Murb.
  • Verbascum pestalozzae Murb.
  • Verbascum phlomoides L. - Orange mullein
  • Verbascum phoeniceum L. - Purple mullein
  • Verbascum pinnatifidum Vahl
  • Verbascum pseudonobile Stoj. & Stef.
  • Verbascum pulverulentum Vill. - Hoary mullein
  • Verbascum purpureum (Janka) Hub.-Mor.
  • Verbascum pycnostachyum Boiss. & Heldr.
  • Verbascum pyramidatum M.Bieb.
  • Verbascum reiseri Halácsy
  • Verbascum roripifolium (Halácsy) I.K.Ferguson
  • Verbascum rotundifolium Ten.
  • Verbascum rupestre (Davidov) I.K.Ferguson
  • Verbascum samniticum Ten.
  • Verbascum scardicola Bornm.
  • Verbascum siculum Tod. ex Lojac.
  • Verbascum sinuatum L. - Wavyleaf mullein
  • Verbascum songaricum Schrenk
  • Verbascum speciosum Schrad. - Showy mullein
  • Verbascum spectabile M.Bieb.
  • Verbascum spinosum L.
  • Verbascum thapsus L. - Great mullein
  • Verbascum undulatum Lam.
  • Verbascum vandasii (Rohlena) Rohlena
  • Verbascum virgatum Stokes - Twiggy mullein
  • Verbascum viridissimum Stoj. & Stef.
  • Verbascum widemannianum Fisch. & Mey.
  • Verbascum xanthophoeniceum Griseb.
  • Verbascum zuccarinii (Boiss.) I.K.Ferguson


    • Cultivation and uses

    Verbascum Nigrum Flowers Closeup
    Various species have been introduced (and in some case naturalised
    Naturalisation (biology)

    In biology, naturalisation is the process when foreign or cultivated plants or animals have spread into the wild, where they multiply by natural regeneration....
    ) in the Americas
    Americas

    The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
    , Australia
    Australia

    Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
     and Hawaii
    Hawaii

    File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
    .

    Since the year 2000 a number of new hybrid cultivar
    Cultivar

    A cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when Plant propagation it retains those characteristics....
    s have come out that have increased flower size with shorter heights and tend to be longer lived plants. A number have new colors for this genus. Many are raised from seed, both the short lived perennial and biennial types. In the landscape they are valued for their tall narrow stature and for flowering over a long period of time, even in dry soils.

    One species, Verbascum thapsus (Great mullein), is used as a herb
    Herb

    A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
    al remedy for sore throat
    Sore Throat

    Sore Throat were a United Kingdom crust punk / grindcore band, formed in Yorkshire in 1987. They are known for being one of the earliest exponents of the grindcore subgenre known as "noisecore", as well launching the careers of several prominent members of the British heavy metal music community....
    , cough
    Cough

    A cough , in medicine, is a sudden and often repetitively occurring defense reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from excess secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes....
     and lung
    Lung

    The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart....
     diseases.

    Mullein is also the active ingredient
    Active ingredient

    An active ingredient , also active pharmaceutical ingredient or bulk active, is the substance in a medication that is pharmaceutically active....
     in many alternative smoking blends.