Common mullein
Not from here. A rosette of felt one year, a two-meter spike the next, and then it is dead.
In brief
Verbascum thapsus, Scrophulariaceae.
- Biennial
- Introduced. Native to Europe, north Africa and Asia
- Flowers June to September
- Fruit a capsule of very small seed
Where it grows
Roadsides, burns and any bare disturbed ground. It arrived in North America in the 1700s and is now in every state.
When it blooms
June to September, in the second year. The flowers open a few at a time up the spike instead of all at once, so a spike is in flower for months and never looks it.
Seed and fruit
A capsule holding several hundred seeds, and a plant carries tens of thousands. They stay viable in the soil for decades, which is why mullein appears on ground that has just been cleared and was not there before.
Here
Photographed on August 30, 2026 on the Fountain of Youth trail.
Year one is a flat rosette of thick grey-green leaves covered in felt. Year two sends up the spike, sets seed, and the plant dies.
It is introduced and it is not aggressive: it takes bare ground, holds it while nothing else will, and gives way as the natives come back. That is a different problem from yellow starthistle.
By Yggdrasil Springs
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