MULLEIN
verbascum thapus
verbascum thapsus
Scrophularace

HISTORY
The down on the leaves and stem makes excellent tinder
when quite dry, readily igniting on the slightest spark, and was,
before the introduction of cotton, used for lamp wicks, hence
another of the old names: 'Candlewick Plant.'

An old superstition existed that witches in their incantations
used lamps and candles provided with wicks
of this sort, and another of the plant's many names,
'Hag's Taper', refers to this, though the word 'hag'
is said to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word
Haege or Hage (a hedge) - the name 'Hedge Taper' exists
- and may imply that the sturdy spikes of this tall hedge plant,
studded with pale yellow blossoms, suggested
a tall candle growing in the hedge, another of its
countryside names being, indeed, 'Our Lady's Candle.'

Lyte (The Niewe Herball, 1578) tells us 'that the whole toppe,
with its pleasant yellow floures sheweth like
to a wax candle or taper cunningly wrought.'

'Torches' is another name for the plant, and Parkinson tells us:
'Verbascum is called of the Latines Candela regia, and Candelaria,
because the elder ag used the stalks dipped in suet to burne,
whether at funeralls or otherwise.'

And Gerard (1597) remarks that it is 'a plant whereof is made
a manner of lynke (link) if it be talowed.' Dr. Prior,
in The Popular Names of British Plants, states that the word
Mullein was Moleyn in AngloSaxon, and Malen
in Old French, derived from the Latin malandrium, i.e.

The malanders or leprosy, and says: 'The term "malandre"
became also applied to diseases of cattle, to lung diseases
among the rest, and the plant being used as a remedy,
acquired its name of "Mullein" and "Bullock's Lungwort."

Coles, in 1657, in Adam in Eden, says that:
'Husbandmen of Kent do give it their cattle against the cough
of the lungs, and I, therefore, mention it because cattle are also
in some sort to be provided for in their diseases.'

The name 'Clown's Lung Wort refers to its use as a homely remedy.
'Ag-Leaf' and 'Ag-Paper' are other names for it.

'Wild Ice Leaf' perhaps refers to the white look of the leaves.
Few English plants have so many local names.

The Latin name Verbascum is considered to be a corruption
of barbascum, from the Latin barba (a beard), in allusion
to the shaggy foliage, and was bestowed on the genus by Linnaeus.

Both in Europe and Asia the power of driving away evil spirits
was ascribed to the Mullein.

In India it has the reputation among the natives
that the St. John's Wort once had here, being considered
a sure safeguard against evil spirits and magic, and from the ancient
classics we learn that it was this plant which Ulysses took
to protect himself against the wiles of Circe.

Cowslip and the Primrose are classed together
by our old herbalists as Petty Mulleins, and are usually credited
with much the same properties.

Gerard recommends both the flowers and leaves of the primrose,
boiled in wine, as a remedy for all diseases
of the lungs and the juice of the root itself,
snuffed up the nose, for megrim.

All the various species of Mullein found in Britain possess
similar medicinal properties, but verbascum thapsus,
the species of most common occurrence, is the one most employed.

For medicinal purposes it is generally collected from wild specimens,
but is worthy of cultivation, not merely from its beauty
as an ornamental plant, but for its medicinal value, which is undoubted.

In most parts of Ireland, besides growing wild,
it is carefully cultivated in gardens, because of a steady demand
for the plant by sufferers from pulmonary consumption.

Its cultivation is easy: being a hardy biennial, it only requires
sowing in very ordinary soil and to be kept free from weeds.

When growing in gardens, Mulleins will often be found
to be infested with slugs, which can be caught wholesale
by placing in borders slates and boards smeared
with margarine on the underside.
Examine in the morning and deposit
the catch in a pail of lime and water.

PARTS USED
Leaves and flowers are the parts used medicinally.

Fresh Mullein leaves are used for the purpose
of making a homoeopathic tincture.


ACTIONS
CONDITIONS
DESCRIPTION
HISTORY
MAGICAL PROPERTIES
MAGICAL USES
OIL