Verbascum blattaria L.
white mullein
Biennial herb; stems to c. 80 cm high, glabrous except near infl. Rosette lvs (4)-5-14 × 1.5-5 cm, shortly petiolate, oblong or ovate-oblong, glabrous or very slightly puberulent below, coarsely and irregularly crenate or dentate; base attenuate; apex acute, obtuse or mucronate. Stem lvs usually smaller, sessile, the uppermost occasionally almost entire. Infl. simple, moderately loose, to 50 cm high, glandular-hairy. Fls solitary in the axils. Pedicels 6-12 mm long at anthesis, > the lanceolate or ovate bracts. Calyx 5-7 mm long at anthesis, lobed nearly to base; lobes lanceolate to oblong, entire, glandular-hairy, especially on margins; apex acute or acuminate. Corolla 2.5-4 cm diam., usually red in bud, white or cream with pink tinge on the outside at anthesis, less often yellow; lobes rounded. Stamens 5; filaments purple-villous; lower 2 stamens with anthers obliquely inserted and decurrent. Capsule 5-8 mm diam., globular or nearly so, exserted from calyx. Seeds ± cylindric to oblong, sometimes almost square, longitudinally ridged and transversely furrowed; apex truncate.
N.: mostly the Auckland area, but as far north as the Mangonui area and occasional as far south as the Wairarapa.
Europe, Asia, N. Africa 1871
Waste places near buildings or on roadsides, stony banks, poor dry pastures, presumably an escape from cultivation.
FL Dec-Jun.
This sp. is often called white mullein in N.Z., whereas in Britain the name moth mullein (applied in N.Z. to the related V. virgatum) is the common name. This is probably because in Europe the fls of V. blattaria are usually yellow whereas in N.Z. they are white or cream and those of V. virgatum are yellow. N.Z. plants of V. blattaria are probably referable to f. erubescens Bruegger, because of the reddish fl. buds.
The related V. phoeniceum L. is a commonly cultivated sp., but as yet there are no confirmed reports of wild plants. The usual cvs of V. phoeniceum have purple or reddish fls; there is a white cv., but it may not be in N.Z. The sp. is best distinguished from both V. blattaria and V. virgatum by its 5, equal, reniform anthers.
