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Vascular Plants of California
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Verbascum blattaria
MOTH 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 blattaria L.
NATURALIZED
Habit: Glabrous below. Stem: 30--120 cm, occasionally branched just below inflorescence. Leaf: basal short-petioled, 4--25 cm, oblanceolate, crenate, glabrous; cauline sessile, 2--12 cm, elliptic to ovate, cordate, dentate. Inflorescence: raceme, terminal, glandular distally; proximal pedicels 10--15(25) mm; bracts < pedicels, linear to lanceolate; flowers 1 per node. Flower: calyx 5--8 mm, lobes lance-linear; corolla 25--30(40) mm wide, yellow or white (purple); filaments all dense-purple-hairy. Fruit: 6--8 mm, spheric. Chromosomes: 2n=18,30,32.
Ecology: Roadsides, seeps, streambanks, disturbed grassland, foothill woodland, chaparral, yellow-pine forest; Elevation: 10--1660 m. Bioregional Distribution: NW, CaRF, n SN, GV, SnFrB, WTR, SnGb, PR (exc SnJt), MP (exc Wrn); Distribution Outside California: native of Eurasia. Flowering Time: May--Aug Note: Sp. name from leaves reputed to repel cockroaches.
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)

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Botanical illustration including Verbascum blattaria

botanical illustration including Verbascum blattaria

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Citation for this treatment: Robert E. Preston & Margriet Wetherwax 2012, Verbascum blattaria, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47833, accessed on April 18, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 18, 2024.

Verbascum blattaria
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©2018 California Academy of Sciences
Verbascum blattaria
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©2015 Neal Kramer
Verbascum blattaria
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©2015 Neal Kramer
Verbascum blattaria
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©2016 Keir Morse
Verbascum blattaria
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©2019 Barry Breckling

More photos of Verbascum blattaria
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Geographic subdivisions for Verbascum blattaria:
NW, CaRF, n SN, GV, SnFrB, WTR, SnGb, PR (exc SnJt), MP (exc Wrn)
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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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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
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).