Flora of New Zealand Series

moth mullein

Biennial; stems hairy, to c. 1 m tall. Rosette lvs usually with very short petioles, to 30 × 15 cm, elliptic or elliptic-obovate, hairy, often sparsely so, irregularly and sometimes deeply crenate, or crenulate; base sometimes attenuate, sometimes pinnatifid; apex subacute, obtuse or mucronate. Stem lvs similar but sessile, somewhat amplexicaul, 5-15-(23) × 2.5-6-(10) cm, usually oblong or elliptic. Infl. to c. 80-(150) cm high, simple or with secondary branches towards base, rather loose, glandular-hairy. Fls few in fascicles below, solitary above. Bracts ovate, entire, the lower ones > fls. Pedicels 1-3 mm long, or sometimes fls subsessile. Calyx 4-9 mm long, deeply lobed, densely glandular-hairy; lobes elliptic, entire, acute or short-acuminate. Corolla 2.5-4 cm diam., yellow except for basal purplish blotches; lobes 1-1.8 cm diam., rounded. Stamens 5; filaments purple-villous, the upper sometimes white-villous; lower 2 stamens with anthers shortly decurrent. Capsule 6-10 mm diam., globular or nearly so, exserted from calyx. Seeds ± obconic, longitudinally furrowed and wrinkled; apex truncate.

N.; S.: common in all districts.

W. Europe, N. Africa 1940

Open disturbed places, roadsides, railway yards, river banks and waste places, up to c. 900 m in the Mt Cook area.

FL Nov-May.

The common name of this sp. is moth mullein in N.Z., whereas in Britain this name is applied to the closely related V. blattaria.