Mullein
Parts Usually Used
Leaves, flowers, root
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Mullein is a tall biennial plant; the tall, stout, simple or branched stem bears alternate, thick, felt-like, light green leaves, whose stems are winged by decurrent bases and are woolly with many star-shaped hairs and their bases run down the stem. There is also a basal rosette of larger, obovate-lanceolate or -oblong leaves. Yellow, sessile flowers grow in cylindrical spikes, 1 to 3 inches long, from June to September.
The flower stalk does not develop until the second year. Fruits are woolly capsules. Other varieties: Common mullein (V. thapsiforme); Orange mullein (V. phlomoides); Black mullein (V. nigrum).
Where Found
Grows in clearings, fields, roadsides, sand pits, gravel pits, pastures, and waste places (seems to thrive in the poorest of soils) from the Atlantic coast west to South Dakota and Kansas. Naturalized from Europe.
Medicinal Properties
Diuretic, expectorant, analgesic, tonic, anodyne, antispasmodic, demulcent, vulnerary, astringent, emollient, pectoral, sedative
Biochemical Information
Iron, potassium, sulfur, aucubin, choline, hesperidin, mucilage, traces of essential oil, magnesium, PABA, saponins, verbaside, vitamins B2, B5, B12, and D.
Legends, Myths and Stories
According to Agrippa, a general and minister under Caesar Augustus, mullein leaves, because of their fragrance, had an overpowering effect on demons. More mundanely, the plant was also used by the Greeks and the Romans to make torches or lampwicks by dipping its dried flower-stalks in tallow. The large stalks were oiled and used for funeral torches in olden times. In the Middle Ages, people deprecatingly called the mullein “hag taper”, because witches used it in their incantations and as an important ingredient in their brews and love potions.
At the time of Charlemagne mullein was misused for catching fish in “forbidden” waters. Boiling down a large quantity of mullein plants in water and pouring the decoction into fish ponds, the saponins in the mullein will reduce the surface tension of the water to such an extent that the water will get into the gills of the fish, which then drown in their own “element”. Dioscorides used the herb for scorpion stings, eye complaints, toothache, tonsillitis, and coughs.
The Native Americans used mullein alone or in tobacco mixtures; also used in medicinal smokes.
Uses
Historically, mullein was employed by herbalists for a variety of respiratory complaints, including difficult breathing, asthma, hay fever, coughs, hoarseness, bronchitis, sinusitis, and bronchial catarrh. In traditional practice, practitioners prepared teas from the plant for gastrointestinal issues, colic, diarrhea, and hemorrhoids, while also utilizing it as a general pain reliever, sleep aid, or laxative.
Folk traditions applied the plant topically, using leaf poultices, dried leaf powder, or fomentations steeped in vinegar and water for wounds, boils, ulcers, sores, warts, frostbite, gout, arthritis, and painful skin conditions. Herbalists also infused the flowers in olive or mineral oil to produce ear drops for earaches. Inhaling the steam from boiled leaves or flowers was a common historical method for addressing nasal congestion, croup, and nerve pain.
Additionally, traditional practitioners smoked the leaves, either alone or blended with coltsfoot and yerba santa, as a tobacco substitute aimed at soothing the throat. The seeds were historically noted for their narcotic properties and were used as a fish poison.
How Sold
Capsules
Warning
The leaves contain rotenone and coumarin, neither viewed with great favor by the FDA. Hairs may irritate skin. Do not use as ear drops if there is a risk that the ear drum is perforated.
Bibliography
, Simon & Schuster/Fireside, Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Magic of Herbs , by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England.
, Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements , by James F.
D. and Phyllis A. , Garden City Park, NY An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992). , Special Sale Catalog, 1996 The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. The Healing Plants , by Mannfried Pahlow, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.
, Hauppauge, NY 11788, 1992 The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974