Verbascum

Verbascum
Wavyleaf mullein, Verbascum sinuatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Tribe: Scrophularieae
Genus: Verbascum
L.
Synonyms[1]
  • Celsia L.
  • Rhabdotosperma Hartl
  • Staurophragma Fisch. & C. A. Mey.

Verbascum (/vɜːrˈbæskəm/[2]), common name mullein (sg. /ˈmʌlᵻn/[3]) (also known as velvet plant), is a genus of about 360 species[4] of flowering plants in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean.

Mullein or "mullein leaf" often refers to the leaves of Verbascum thapsus, the great or common mullein, which is frequently used in herbal medicine.[4]

Description

They are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5 to 3 metres (1.6 to 9.8 ft) tall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves at ground level, subsequently sending up a tall flowering stem. Biennial plants form the rosette the first year and the stem the following season. The leaves are spirally arranged, often densely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flowers have five symmetrical petals; petal colours in different species include yellow (most common), orange, red-brown, purple, blue, or white. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous minute seeds.

Cultivation

Dark mullein (Verbascum nigrum)

In gardening and landscaping, the mulleins are valued for their tall, narrow stature and for flowering over a long period of time, even in dry soils. Many cultivars are available, of which 'Gainsborough',[5] 'Letitia'[6] and 'Pink Domino'[7] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Since 2000, a number of new hybrid cultivars have come out that have increased flower size, shorter heights, and a tendency to be longer-lived plants. A number have new colors for this genus. Many mulleins are raised from seed, including both the short-lived perennial and biennial types.

Other uses

Verbascum thapsus has a long history of use as an herbal remedy.[8] 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. Flowers of Verbascum species have been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally (as tea) or externally (as ointment, tea, baths or compresses) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, veins, gastrointestinal tract, and the locomotor system.[9]

The stalk of the plant is considered a first-rate drill for use in the hand drill method of friction fire lighting.

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 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 damascenum.
  • 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 juruk Stef.
  • 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 longirostris (Murb.) Huber-Morath
  • 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 L. – dark mullein
  • Verbascum niveum Ten.
  • Verbascum nobile Velen.
  • Verbascum gypsicola Vural & Aydoğdu
  • 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 shahsavarensis sotoodeh [4]
  • Verbascum siculum Tod. ex Lojac.
  • Verbascum sinaiticum
  • Verbascum sinuatum L. – wavyleaf mullein
  • Verbascum songaricum Schrenk.
  • Verbascum spathulisepalum Greuter & Rech. f.
  • Verbascum speciosum Schrad. – showy mullein
  • Verbascum spectabile M.Bieb.
  • Verbascum spinosum L.
  • Verbascum syriacum
  • Verbascum tzar-borisii (Davidov ex Stoj.) Stef.-Gat.
  • Verbascum thapsus L. – great mullein or common 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

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  2. ↑ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  3. ↑ "mullein". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. 1 2 3 "The most complete source of Verbascum". The most complete source of Verbascum.
  5. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Verbascum 'Gainsborough'". Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Verbascum 'Letitia'". Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Verbascum 'Pink Domino'". Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Tierra, Michael & John Lust (2003). The Natural Remedy Bible (revised and updated ed.). New York: Pocket Books. pp. 164, 180. ISBN 0-7434-6642-X.
  9. ↑ Vogl, S.; Picker, P.; Mihaly-Bison, J.; Fakhrudin, N.; Atanasov, A. G.; Heiss, E. H.; Wawrosch, C.; Reznicek, G.; Dirsch, V. M.; Saukel, J. & Kopp, B. (2013). "Ethnopharmacological in vitro studies on Austria's folk medicine – an unexplored lore in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of 71 Austrian traditional herbal drugs". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 149 (3): 750–71. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2013.06.007. PMC 3791396Freely accessible. PMID 23770053.

References

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