Verbascum pulverulentum explained

Verbascum pulverulentum, the hoary mullein,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae.[2] It is native to western, central and southern Europe north to England (where its main range is in East Anglia) and southern Wales.[1] It has been introduced to Austria, Madeira, and Washington state in the USA.[3] [4] It is a specialist on coastal shingle, and so is preadapted to human-influenced habitats such as old quarries and gravel pits, road verges, railway embankments, and similar disturbed stony ground.[5]

It is a stout biennial or monocarpic perennial herb growing up to 1.5 m tall, producing flowers and seeds only once, during its second or a later year. The stems and leaves are densely woolly with pale grey to glaucous pubescence. The flowers are yellow, 18–25 mm diameter, with 5 orange stamens, all the stamen stems with dense white hairs.[6] [7] [1] It can best be distinguished from the similar great mullein (V. thapsus) in all five stamens having dense white hairs on the stem; in V. thapsus, the lower two of the five stamens are hairless or only thinly hairy.[6]

It is the main food plant for the moth Nothris verbascella (Norfolk snout).[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hoary Mullein Verbascum pulverulentum Vill. . BSBI Online Plant Atlas 2020 . P. A. Stroh . T. A. Humphrey . R. J. Burkmar . O. L. Pescott . D. B. Roy . K. J. Walker . Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland . 2020 . 5 September 2024 .
  2. Web site: Verbascum pulverulentum - Vill. . . 2021 . pfaf.org . Plants For A Future . 15 October 2021 .
  3. Web site: Verbascum pulverulentum Vill. . . Plants of the World Online . Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 15 October 2021 .
  4. Web site: Verbascum pulverulentum hoary mullein . 2021 . The Royal Horticultural Society . 15 October 2021 .
  5. Web site: Verbascum pulverulentum . . 2021 . brc.ac.uk/plantatlas . Online Atlas of the British and Irish flora . 15 October 2021 . 28 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211028170216/https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/verbascum-pulverulentum . bot: unknown .
  6. Streeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. Collins Flower Guide. Harper Collins
  7. Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe.
  8. Web site: 35.015 Norfolk Snout Nothris verbascella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) ]. British and Irish Moths . 5 September 2024.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Verbascum pulverulentum".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.