Mullein (Verbascum) Seedling

Mullein is an attractive addition to the garden with a large rosette of grey woolly leaves up to 50cm long and tall thick spires surrounded at the top with small yellow flowers with 5 petals. The plant is native to Western Europe but has become a weed in some countries. Mullein is a bitter cooling mucilaginous herb. Both leaves and flowers are used. Mullein tea is made from drying plant’s leaves. Internally it is used for coughs, bronchitis, tonsillitis, asthma and urinary tract infections. The flowers can be infused in oil and used for earache (do not use if eardrum has ruptured). It is soothing on nappy rash, sores and boils. Mullein’s first year of growth as a biennial is a rosette of pale green, fuzzy leaves that may span only a few inches across or be several feet wide. The second year, a flower spike emerges—some grow up to six feet high—with bright yellow flowers favoured by bees and other pollinators.