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flannel mullein, great mullein

Habit Coarse, taprooted biennial, producing a rosette of basal leaves the first year, and a single, erect stem 0.4-2 m. tall the second year, the entire plant covered with white-woolly, branched hairs.
Leaves

Basal leaves broadly oblanceolate, 1-4 dm. long and 4-12 cm. wide, tapered to a long petiole, nearly entire;

cauline leaves alternate, numerous, reduced upward, becoming sessile and clasping.

Flowers

Inflorescence a dense, elongate spike;

calyx of 5 sepals;

corolla usually yellow, slightly irregular, 5 lobed, 1-2 cm. wide;

stamens 5, all fertile, the upper 3 filaments densely yellow-hairy, the lower 2 glabrous and longer.

Fruits

Capsule broadly ovoid, 7-10 mm. long.

Verbascum thapsus

Verbascum speciosum

Flowering time June-September
Habitat Fields, roadsides, wastelots, disturbed forest edge, thickets, and other disturbed open areas.
Distribution
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status Not of concern
Sibling taxa
V. blattaria, V. bombyciferum, V. densiflorum, V. virgatum
V. blattaria, V. bombyciferum, V. densiflorum, V. thapsus, V. virgatum
Subordinate taxa
V. thapsus ssp. thapsus
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