Mullein

Verbascum thapsus

Scrophulariaceae

A woolly candelabra for the lungs — flowers also oil for the ear in folk practice.

Common biennial. Strain the tea — the hairs irritate.

Parts used: Leaf · Flower
Traditional notes: Dry or rattling cough · Folk ear oil · Chest tea
Grow · USDA 6b: Biennial, USDA 3–9 Surface-sow. Let some spike for next year's plants. In work: May · Jun · Jul · Aug
Harvest: Leaves year 1 and 2; flowers as they open.

Waste ground and gravel. Rich soil makes a floppy giant.
Strain every tea through cloth — the hairs scratch the throat.
Biennial: rosette year one, candelabra year two. Let a spike seed.

Safety

Perforated eardrum (oil) Unstrained infusion

Lore

Hag’s taper: the dried stalk dipped in tallow was a torch. Roman soldiers are said to have done the same. The felted leaf is a lung tea if you strain the hairs, and a shoe-liner in a pinch of folklore.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.