Verbascum phlomoides L.
woolly mullein (clasping mullein; orange mullein)
Scrophulariaceae (Butterfly-bush family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Gerry & Wendy Ansell     (Photo ID #70917)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Verbascum phlomoides
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Species Information

General:
Stout biennial herb from a taproot; stems single, erect, 0.3-1.2 m tall, white- to yellowish-woolly.
Leaves:
Basal leaves in a rosette, oblong-elliptic, tapering to a stalked base, round-toothed, woolly on both surfaces; stem leaves numerous, alternate, progressively reduced and more lanceolate upward, smooth above, woolly beneath, becoming unstalked and entire, with clasping leaf-bases not or slightly decurrent along the stem.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a bracted, spike-like, terminal cluster, at first dense later elongating and spacing-out some of the numerous, very short-stalked flowers; corollas yellow to orange-yellow, sometimes white, wheel-shaped, 2-5 cm across, 5-lobed, the lobes nearly equal, concave, the tube very short; calyces 5-12 mm long, longer than the flower stalks, hairy, deeply 5-lobed, the lobes lanceolate; stamens 5, the 3 upper filaments densely, long, white-hairy, the 2 lower filaments smooth or nearly so.
Fruits:
Capsules, ellipsoid to egg-shaped, 5-8 mm long; seeds numerous.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Habitat and Range

Mesic to moist roadsides, fields and waste places; rare in SW BC (Gulf Islands and adjacent mainland) and SC BC (Kelowna); introduced from Eurasia.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia