Great Mullein

Here's a fairly conspicuous plant, the Great Mullein; presumably their height got them the "great" part of their name. They're also called Common Mullein, reflecting that they're not exactly rare.

They can grow to 6 feet in height, with large hairy flowers near the bottom and lots of small yellow flowers near the top of the stalk. It's apparently used in plenty of folk remedies, though no medicine is made from it.

It's considered invasive here in the US, though it rarely creates monocultures. It can be shaded out, so it generally disappears when meadows become forests. And tilling soil gets it out of the way of farmers. As invasive plants go, they're not the worst actors out there.

It sounds like some pollinators benefit from it, though most animals don't acquire a taste for it.

My picture is almost certainly a 1st year plant; it takes them 2 years to grow the large stalk with its flowers at the top.

November 10, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 169043845, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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