A friend of mine gardens in a community plot and noticed a very large, yellow-flowered plant sprouting on his allotment.  He asked if I could identify it from a description, which turned out to be an easy task.  At this time of the year, a plant that is three to six feet tall, with yellow flowers on a single, statuesque spike, can only be common mullein.

Common mullein or Verbascum thapsus arrived in North America in the eighteenth century and spread so efficiently that many people think it is a native wildflower.   In reality, it originated in southern Europe, North Africa and Asia and has been known and used medicinally and cosmetically since ancient times.  Along the way it has acquired scores of picturesque nicknames, including flannel or velvet plant, flannel mullein, wooly mullein, hag’s taper, beggar’s blanket, cowboy toilet paper and feltwort.  I am sure similar nicknames proliferated in the languages of every country where common mullein made itself at home.

The “flannel” or “felt” names refer to the leaves, which are covered with a network of fine, soft hairs.  Common mullein is biennial, meaning that it sprouts a large rosette of basal leaves in its first year of growth.  The following year each plant sends up a single tall flower stalk, bears blooms, sets copious amounts of seed and then dies. The individual flowers, which cover at least one third of the stalk, are yellow, with five petals apiece and red or red-orange stamens.  If all the flowers bloomed simultaneously, common mullein would be a wondrous sight and probably a popular garden plant, like its relatives, snapdragons and penstemon.  Unfortunately the flowers open a few at a time and the plant remains a low-key player on the floral scene. If you notice common mullein at all, the image that comes to mind is of a tall, slender, greenish candle. Given this resemblance, it is not surprising that beginning with the ancient Romans, people have collected and bundled dried mullein flower stalks, dipped them in wax and used them as tapers or torches.  Of course in the Middle Ages, this practice—like so many others–was associated with witchcraft and common mullein acquired yet another nickname—devil’s blanket.

Back in 2012, English horticultural writer Richard Mabey published a book called Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants.  It is a wonderful volume, full of weed-related learning and lore.  One of the weeds that Mabey profiles is rosebay willowherb—Chamerion angustifolium—also sometimes known as “bombweed” for its propensity to be among the first plants to colonize bombed out sites.  Common mullein is another such plant.  Provide the seeds with open, disturbed soil in a sunny location and they will germinate like crazy.  This is why so many of the tall, yellow-tipped “candles” show up in summer on the edges of farm fields, by roadsides and in railroad right-of-ways.  One of my friends, who is an ace at making floral arrangements from found plant material, puts common mullein in an imaginary plant category that he calls “roadsidia”.

Despite mullein’s vigorous tendency and foreign origins, it is not considered invasive because it goes its merry way without stomping native plant life.  Mullein is also useful, which has probably helped keep it around.  The flowers and other plant parts produce yellow or yellow-green dyes, which have been used to color both cloth and human hair.  Those felted leaves, when steeped into a tea or other decoction, are traditional remedies for coughs and respiratory problems.  If you are thinking of doing this, consult a good herbal reference volumn or internet site first and be sure to strain the finished liquid, as the leave’s hairs can be irritating.  The foliage also has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties and in the past was made into poultices and applied to wounds.

If you have an herb garden, common mullein might be a perfect addition.  In mid-summer, find the nearest waste space and collect the seed.  Strew it on open ground and let nature take its course.  During the winter months, the seed will get the chilling it needs in order to germinate the following spring.  Once mullein has made a home in your garden, it will effectively perennialize, and eventually you will have first year rosettes and second year flower stalks every single year.  All you have to do is grub out or give away unwanted seedlings.

If common mullein sounds just a little too uncivilized for your garden, consider its relative, nettle-leafed mullein or Verbascum chaixii.  These plants have similar felted leaf rosettes, but sprout multiple flower stalks with more abundant blossoms.  ‘Album’ bears white flowers, while ‘Sixteen Candles’ features yellow blooms.  Hybrid verbascums, like the popular ‘Southern Charm’, are even more refined, featuring flowers in a color range from white through medium pink.  All are wonderful for flower arranging and unlikely to prompt accusations of witchcraft.  If you are interested in trying them, check the listings at Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Road, Madison, OH 44957, (800) 852-5243; www.bluestoneperennials.com.  Free catalog.