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Verbascum

Genus of flowering plants

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
3 min read
Source updated August 3, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Verbascum is a genus of over 450 species of flowering plants, common name mullein (/ˈmʌlɪn/), in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe, Africa and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean.

Mullein or "mullein leaf" often refers to the leaves of Verbascum thapsus, the great or common mullein, which is frequently used in herbal medicine.

01Description

Verbascum are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5 to 3.0 m (1.6 to 9.8 ft) tall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves at ground level, subsequently sending up a tall flowering stem. Biennial plants form the rosette the first year and the stem the following season. The leaves are spirally arranged, often densely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flowers have five symmetrical petals; petal colours in different species include yellow (most common), orange, red-brown, purple, blue, or white. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous minute seeds.

Dark mullein (V. nigrum)
Dark mullein (V. nigrum)

02Cultivation

In gardening and landscaping, the mulleins are valued for their tall narrow stature and for flowering over a long period of time, even in dry soils.

These cultivars have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

  • 'Gainsborough' (Cotswold Group)
  • 'Letitia'
  • 'Pink Domino' (Cotswold Group)
  • 'Tropic Sun'
Verbascum sp.
Verbascum sp.

03Select species

Watch videos about VerbascumExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Verbascum”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Mullein moth

The mullein moth is a noctuid moth with a Palearctic distribution. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.