Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
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Verbascum
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.
Verbascum
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.
Species In Genus: +- 360 species: Eurasia. Etymology: (Latin: from root for bearded)
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)
Key to Verbascum

Previous taxon: Scrophularia villosa
Next taxon: Verbascum blattaria

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Citation for this treatment: Robert E. Preston & Margriet Wetherwax 2012, Verbascum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=11412, 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.