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Vascular Plants of California
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Verbascum thapsus
WOOLLY MULLEIN


Higher Taxonomy
Family: ScrophulariaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: FIGWORT FAMILY
Habit: Annual to tree, generally glandular, some +- aquatic. Stem: round to square in ×-section. Leaf: simple, generally alternate, generally +- entire; stipules generally 0 (present in Limosella). Inflorescence: spike to panicle (head-like), generally bracted, or flowers 1--4 in axils. Flower: generally bisexual; calyx lobes 4--5; corolla bilateral to radial, lobes 4--5; stamens epipetalous, 4--5[6--8], 5th a staminode in Scrophularia; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 2, placentas axile, style 1, stigma lobes generally 2. Fruit: capsule, generally +- ovoid, loculicidal or septicidal, or drupe-like.
Genera In Family: +- 65 genera, 1700 species: +- worldwide; some cultivated as ornamental (Verbascum). Note: Other taxa moved to Plantaginaceae (Antirrhinum, Bacopa, Collinsia, Cymbalaria, Digitalis, Dopatrium, Gambelia, Gratiola, Hebe, Holmgrenanthe, Keckiella, Kickxia, Limnophila, Linaria, Lindernia, Maurandella, Mohavea, Nothochelone, Penstemon, Pseudorontium, Stemodia, Synthyris, Tonella, Veronica), Orobanchaceae (Bellardia, Castilleja, Cordylanthus, Orthocarpus, Parentucellia, Pedicularis, Triphysaria), Phrymaceae (Diplacus, Erythranthe, Mimetanthe, Mimulus).
eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Genus: VerbascumView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: MULLEIN
Habit: [Annual] biennial, rosette large. Stem: erect, simple or branched just proximal to inflorescence. Leaf: basal and cauline, alternate, distal reduced. Inflorescence: raceme or panicle, bracted. Flower: calyx +- radial, deeply 5-lobed; corolla +- radial, +- rotate, 5-lobed; stamens 5, lower 2 filaments > upper 3, all or only upper hairy; stigma +- spheric. Fruit: capsule, septicidal. Seed: small, wingless, many.
Etymology: (Latin: from root for bearded)
eFlora Treatment Author: Robert E. Preston & Margriet Wetherwax
Reference: Donnelly et al. 1998 Amer J Bot 85:1618--1625
Verbascum thapsus L.
NATURALIZED
Habit: Densely tomentose, hairs stellate or many-branched. Stem: 30--200 cm, generally simple. Leaf: basal short-petioled, 8--50 cm, oblanceolate, generally entire; cauline sessile, long-decurrent, 5--30 cm, lanceolate, generally entire. Inflorescence: raceme, dense; bracts 12--18 mm; pedicels < 2 mm, generally fused to stem. Flower: calyx 7--9 mm, lobes lanceolate; corolla 15--25(30) mm wide, yellow, glandular; upper 3 filaments white- or yellow-hairy, lower 2 glabrous to sparse-hairy. Fruit: 7--10 mm, ovoid. Chromosomes: 2n=32,34,36.
Ecology: Roadsides, streambanks, disturbed areas; Elevation: < 2470 m. Bioregional Distribution: CA-FP, n SNE, MP; Distribution Outside California: native to Eurasia. Flowering Time: May--Sep
Jepson eFlora Author: Robert E. Preston & Margriet Wetherwax
Reference: Donnelly et al. 1998 Amer J Bot 85:1618--1625
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
View the CDFA Pest Rating page for Verbascum thapsus
Weed listed by Cal-IPC

Previous taxon: Verbascum speciosum
Next taxon: Verbascum virgatum

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Botanical illustration including Verbascum thapsus

botanical illustration including Verbascum thapsus

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Citation for this treatment: Robert E. Preston & Margriet Wetherwax 2012, Verbascum thapsus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47846, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Verbascum thapsus
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©2016 Keir Morse
Verbascum thapsus
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©2012 Barry Rice
Verbascum thapsus
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©2008 Thomas Stoughton
Verbascum thapsus
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©2007 Thomas Stoughton
Verbascum thapsus
click for enlargement
©2012 Barry Rice

More photos of Verbascum thapsus
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Geographic subdivisions for Verbascum thapsus:
CA-FP, n SNE, MP
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).