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Photographer: Paul Drobot
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Family Scrophulariaceae
Verbascum thapsus L.
common mullein, flannel plant, giant mullein
Verbascum: corrupted form of Barbascum, the ancient Latin name for this plant
thapsus: referring to Thapsus in ancient Africa (now Tunisia) or of Thapsos in Greece
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| Status: | Introduced - naturalized; potentially invasive |
| Plant: | erect, biennial, 1'-6' tall forb with gray, branching hairs and no glands |
| Flower: | yellow, 5-parted, 1/3"-1" wide, nearly regular in shape, 3 lower lobes slightly longer than the upper 2, 5 stamens; inflorescence a 20" dense, spike-like cluster becoming more open in time; blooms June-Sept. |
| Leaf: | first year a basal rosette then becoming alternate, mostly entire, softly hairy, lower stalked, upper stalkless and extending down the stem as a narrow wing |
| Habitat: | disturbed sites |
| (Glossary) |
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