They’re about 6 feet tall, growing at the edge of the woods. Western MI, half a mile from Lake Michigan in sandy soil.
And it's in it's 2nd year.
How do you know this?
It's taking 200 level classes
It is a biennial plant, meaning it forms a rosette of leaves during its first growth year. During year two it forms the central stalk with flowers.
Edit: spelling
Yep
They're biennials. They lay down roots the first year and flower/ seed the second
Wow, they look like our native Foxgloves on steroids.
They do resemble foxgloves
And it is invasive.
I have them in my yard and when Haloween arrives I put little plastic sculls on the spikes
At Christmas time I top each of mine with a star or ornament!!
You can make hag torches with them...
https://www.oldwayscandle.co.uk/blogs/oldwayscandleblog/how-to-make-mullein-torches
I heat up and liquify crisco, then dip them in it and let the crisco cool and solidify.
I am going to try that!
Light up enough of em, get a couple of pitchforks, and we can go hunt Frankenstein
Perfect!
I make mullein tea with the leaves for my bronchitis
Do you dry them first?
It would be an odd choice to dry your lungs out before drinking tea
Yes it has great healing properties. Much like coedine for coughs
Mullein, Verbascum thapsus
Makes good toilet paper.
And diapers, apparently
That I didn’t know. Thanks
I just heard it from a YouTube guy, so proceed with caution lol <3
🤣
Useful medically as well. Look it up 😁
Mullein is fantastic for lung health
Yay, mullein!
Bees and butterflies food.
Goldfinches like the flowers
Mullen! Great for ear infections
Do you have experience using it for that purpose? If so, would you mind sharing your process? This is a new use to me.
What have you used it for?
I do! It’s been a long time. My daughter kept getting ear infections. Used it for years. It’s very good for other ailments as well. I had a friend who made the oil, I was going to learn from him. Unfortunately he passed. Making oil & tincture is time consuming. I’m certain there’s instructions on the inter-webbels. That wasn’t a thing back then.
Mullein oil is extracted from the flower or leaves of the plant. The oil is used as a remedy for earaches, eczema, and some other skin conditions. asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, colds, cough.
Oil, got it. Thanks for sharing! I will deep dive into it and see what I can learn! I have only harvested the 2nd year stalks to make into candles/torches.
I often see people recommend it for lung issues and congestion type stuff, either as a tea or smoking the leaves. I always wonder how the smoking goes with the lung issues.
When something is suggested to be inhaled, you can put the dried leaves in a heat resistant bowl & light.
When something helps lungs/asthma, it frequently (not always) helps with the entire respiratory system. Nose, throat, lungs, sinuses. Ears run right next to the respiratory system & can become infected with nasal drainage.
Good luck!
You’re absolutely right, yet I never thought about that is relation to mullein! 😆
Mullein. It’s non native to the US. In some parts of the US it’s considered invasive.
It's fascinating how in some parts of the US, like the west, people are concerned about Mullein behaving invasively while in others its not nearly as aggressive and is more likely to be thought of a medicinal plant.
I'm wondering if big pharma isn't involved in discrediting medicinal plants. It was oil company lobbyists that wanted Marijuana banned. Even though It was our #3 crop in the U.S. They were afraid the seed oil would hurt their bottom line.
Different climates, different aggression/destructive rate
Yup. A species kept well in check in one environment can take over and be destructive in another.
Is there anywhere where Chinese knotweed is just a casual interloper?
Its native range in Asia.
In the Midwest it is considered invasive.
Yeah, yeah. Some people say that about any non-native plant, not just aggressive or ecosystem-disrupting ones.
I'm not personally concerned about mullein since it's useful and pretty and no threat to take over where I am.
Now, something like creeping bell flower is colonizing my town in a far more obnoxious, disruptive way so I rip it out all the time.
Bradford pear is the invasive for us. I get why they planted them.originally but they were not kept in check.
That's medicinal!!!!
I don't know, but they're kinda creeping me out. Without my glasses on, they look they have just crept out of the woods and are about to march across the lawn. Humans beware! The Triffids are coming!
Mullein, almost certainly.
In central Wisconsin, we called those Bishop's Staff. Don't know the official name, that's just what we called them.
From central WI, never heard it called that.
It’s mullein. It’s invasive in the west. Near you it’s mostly just a non native. I suggest tearing it out before it goes to seed. If you want to feed the butterfly’s and bees and you want to do it with natives that looks like a lovely spot for a stand of coneflowers.
We love the idea of coneflowers, but we have a boatload of those scattered around our property already. We are thinking about raising the canopy a bit and putting an Alaskan weeping cedar in here; do you have any suggestions for plants that might complement such a tree?
That would make it a shady spot, or would it be still part sun?
It’s mostly shady; a few hours of morning sun per day, at best.
Id maybe check out Solidago flexicaulis / Broad-leaved Goldenrod. May I gently and in a not at all pushy way offer a suggestion of looking into putting a red or a white oak in there instead? They aren’t weeping, however they are a species that’s native to your area, and as such they’re a larval host to the butterflies that exist there. So by planting it you’ll be increasing the butterfly habitat. If you have your heart set on the Alaska cedar I’m sure it won’t do any harm, but it also lacks the Potential to do as much positive influence as a locally native tree. (Also I’m not a landscaper so I only took my best guess as to the meaning of the phrase “raising the canopy a bit”. I read it to mean you’re wanting g to plant taller trees?) anyhow I’m more than happy keep talking about and suggesting natives, however this is the local extension site that lists your natives and what their specific needs are.
If you’d like a cool document to look at, assuming this link works in the Reddit link format,this is a list of native plant species found in our ecoregion (which is huge, it’s the eastern temperate forests, so you’ll have to cross reference the first link in this comment to see which of the species in this doc are actually locally native to you) and it lists how many species of caterpillar use it as a host, as well as how many pollinators rely on it. It’s truly eye opening how important some of these native species can be. Spoiler alert: the white oak I recommended you consider tops the keystone list at hosting 436 butterfly and moth caterpillar species.
This is great, thanks very much for your response! We have quite a few oaks already, as well as redbud, beech, and hemlock - most of our property is forest, that we mostly don’t touch except for clearing out the occasional fallen tree. That’s a great MSU resource you linked, we’ve bookmarked it for sure.
In case you were curious, “Raising the canopy” is actually about pruning the lower branches of trees. This creates more vertical space beneath the tree, so more light can reach the ground; it promotes the growth of grass or other plants. This particular spot is directly visible from our master bedroom deck, so we’re brainstorming ways to make it more visually interesting.
Oh! Well in that case I’d aim for the goldenrod I mentioned under, and lots of the native ferns in the list you bookmarked that will fit that site. People often forget ferns, but they’re a great native for a shady area.
Oh, yes, it's mullein! Actually planted some one year in the back yard. Next year I had 25!! Some even came up in the cracks in the driveway in the front yard! The birds spread them everywhere!
You said the quiet part out loud.
Penis flower
Also curious
Looks like mullein.
You don't have to, but I grab a leaf wash it then steep it in hot water. You can dry it to also make tea. You can dry it and smoke it, my friend says it's good that way.
Invasive
Def take it and use it for medicine!!
The flowers steeped in oil are good for earaches
Mullen
Muellin!
Mullein.. Smoke it or wipe your bum with the leaves. Do not however wipe your bum with them and then proceed to smoke it.
I love seeing Mullein growing! What a treat!
Wolly Mullein or we call it pig weed.
It has medicinal properties and herbalists use them.
Cut the blooms and seed holders off now. Carefully. Think of them as white folk. There's 4-5 now, next year, more, the next year more, then you're stuck in your home waiting, waiting for their next move.
Invasive Mullein. I kill it and plant something more endemic. Before it seeds
Softer than a cloud…so I’ve heard
That's Mullein.