| common mullein |
USDA PLANTS Symbol: VETH USDA ARS GRIN: 41150 ITIS: 33394 NAPIS: PEUAOBD |
| Verbascum thapsus L. | |
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Taxonomic Rank: Magnoliopsida: Scrophulariales: Scrophulariaceae |
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| Synonym(s): big taper, flannel mullein, flannel plant, great mullein, mullein, velvet dock, velvet plant, woolly mullein | |
Common mullein is a biennial forb native to Eurasia and Africa. Plants are unbranched and can grow to more than 6.6 ft. (2 m) tall. First year plants develop as a basal rosette of felt-like leaves. Basal leaves are 4-12 in. (10.2-30.5 cm) long, 1-5 in. (2.5-12.7 cm) wide and covered with woolly hairs. The plant bolts in the second year. Flowering occurs in June to August, when five-petaled, yellow flowers develop at the apex of the shoot. Cauline (stem) leaves are decurrent, alternate and decrease in size towards the apex. The fruit is a ovoid capsule that splits releasing many seeds that germinate in water. Common mullein was introduced to North America in the mid-1700s as a fish poison. |
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Identification, Biology, Control and Management Resources
- Weed of the Week - USDA Forest Service
- Element Stewardship Abstract - The Nature Conservancy
- Weeds Gone Wild: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas - Plant Conservation Alliance
| Selected Images from Invasive.org | View All Images at Invasive.org |
 Foliage; Richard Old, XID Services, Inc., Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Plant(s); habit Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Plant(s); Rosette Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Plant(s); June. Photo from Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses by J.H. Miller and K.V. Miller, published by The University of Georgia Press in cooperation with the Southern Weed Science Society. Ted Bodner, Southern Weed Science Society, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Foliage; leaves Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Flower(s); Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Flower(s); Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte, , Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Fruit(s); infructescence Richard Old, XID Services, Inc., Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Flower(s); deformed flowerhead Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Fruit(s); Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte, , Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Plant(s); habit Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Plant(s); habit on aa Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Plant(s); Richard Old, XID Services, Inc., Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Plant(s); in flower Dave Powell, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Seed(s); Steve Hurst, USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Diagram or Graphic; Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. Illustrated flora of the northern states and Canada. Vol. 3: 173. USDA PLANTS Database, USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
Taxonomic References:
- USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
Invasive Listing Sources:
- Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
- Eric Ulaszek, U.S. Forest Service, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Illinois
- Faith Campbell, 1998. Plants that Hog the Garden: Invasive Plants in the United States. Fine Gardening Online
- Hoffman, R. & K. Kearns, Eds. 1997. Wisconsin manual of control recommendations for ecologically invasive plants. Wisconsin Dept. Natural Resources, Bureau of Endangered Resources. Madison, Wisconsin. 102pp.
- Jil M. Swearingen, Survey of invasive plants occurring on National Park Service lands, 2000-2007
- John Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Survey of TNC Preserves, 1995.
- Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2005
- Missouri Department of Conservation,
- New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Plant Industry, 2004
- Nonnative Invasive Species in Southern Forest and Grassland Ecosystems
- Pacific Northwest Exotic Pest Plant Council, 1998
- Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, Pennsylvania.
- University of Hawaii, Botany Department, Hawaiian Alien Plant Studies, 1998
- WeedUS - Database of Plants Invading Natural Areas in the United States
- California Invasive Plant Council
- Colorado Noxious Weeds
- Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council Category 4
- South Dakota Noxious Weeds
- Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council Significant Threat
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