Large and furry
Back when some of us spoke proto-Indo-European, we called it “moldus” because the leaves were soft. Millennia went by in a flash and folks who did not like Ds started calling it “mollis.” By the time Chaucer was a frisky lad, he would known it as “moleyne,” and in my garden I call it mullein. I wonder what it will be called in 2525?
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is often one of the first plants to sprout in waste and disturbed areas, along roadsides and in openings in the woods. During its first year, the leaves are large, furry, and vigorous. Here we are in md-May and a plant in my garden has several leaves at least 15 inches long. Making leaves is its job now, but by the second spring, it will have sprouted a strong stalk five feet tall or more. The stalk eventually turns into an extended corn cob of tiny yellow flowers.
Everything about mullein is big. This flower head might be three feet long (or not, who knows?), and the flowers spiral around the inflorescence from the bottom up over time. Eventually the plant dies after creating almost 200,000 seeds (somebody counted) which mostly fall close to their mother. One source claimed mullein seeds might remain viable for a century. How would someone determine that? Can just anybody buy that technology online? Do I need a license?
Mullein seeds are not typically spread by wild animals or wind, yet mullein is widespread on all the non-ice bound continents, and human people helped spread them.
“Why?” asked the red-haired lady in the third row.
I’m glad you asked. Centuries ago, before Dollar General, when a family needed something, they looked around to see what would help. Folks like us figured out that mullein tea soothes sore throats, and a paste of crushed leaves will soothe a wound. How do we know these things? Is it trigonometry? The Zuni nation treated foot ailments and sores with a paste from the root. Also, does your cough whoop? Maybe mullein can help. Other early Americans used the root to make cough syrup.
And then, there’s this. Let’s picture somebody long ago with a tough, nagging cough on a path near a shelter, and up steps a stranger holding out a rolled up mullein leaf lit on one end. “Here, dude,” he said. “Try this.” And word got out that smoke from a dried mullein leaf would relieve cough symptoms, and you don’t need a dispensary. The mullein smoke is not irritating, and it relieves inflammation which helps clear the airway for easier breathing. It’s like a restorative for lungs.
Components in mullein act as an expectorant which moderates mucus, making it easier to remove from the respiratory system.
But there’s more. Remember Ulysses – crazy eyes, snorted a lot? According to one version, he had to go against evil bad cutie-pie Circe, so gods gave him a stalk of mullein to protect himself with. Maybe she was allergic.
That attitude toward mullein was not just in myth because Middle Ages mystics were certain mullein would protect us from bad spirits… you just wave the stalk like a light saber! Other legends claimed a mullein leaf amulet would attract love and inspire courage. Sounds like too much to ask of a furry waste area plant. You can also make ear drops from a mullein tincture.
Mullein leaves are easy to dehydrate, and they store well in jars. Mullein tea contains antioxidants which stimulate the body’s natural defenses, and other researchers are shouting about its antiviral properties, so it won’t hurt to drink mullein tea if you have the flu. Scientists in lab coats (plus thousands of years of colloquial experience) are telling us all this. Not me. I’m just a gardener, and I like that shredded mullein leaves add a soft texture to mulch in my garden.