Mullein, Verbascum Thapsus, is a stately plant. Very tall and almost cactus shape, the way his branches pop out horizontally, turn and grow straight for the sky. Large soft leaves, tiny yellow flowers typically growing in one or maybe two stalk plants. It is said if Mullein graces your garden with 3 stalks or more, he brings good fortune. Mullein grows all over the world along edges and roads and is easy to spot. He is often 6ft or more with spiked branches, large white-green leaves beginning at his base and as a biennial, in his second year small yellow flowers clinging to each stalk almost corn-like. Mullein works to calm and sooth our respiratory system. He supports, strengthens and reduces inflammation as an anti-viral, anti-bacterial wound healer. Mullen can be used as a tea, tincture, or poltice.
The season our garden beds filled themselves with Mullen, was the season the pandemic began. Plants are intuitive healers and show up when and where they can be most beneficial. What more appropriate of a time, then during a wide spread respiratory infection, for Mullein to make himself known. I have never seen more wild Mullein growing here in Michigan, than that first pandemic season. 4 and 6 stalk plants or more standing guard in groups like an army of health and well being.
Gathering giant Mullein leaves felt like a favor to the plants in the hot summer sun. The tiny yellow flowers so abundantly filling my basket. Offering a plant spirit a human gift of thanks sometimes feels trivial… like a small child offering his mother yet another scribbled drawing, although filled with loving intention, will be stacked and lost to uselessness. I want to offer my blood… something with mineral and need. I settle for a lock of hair because the moon is not dark and I’m not into cutting myself. It feels like an inadequate trade but maybe thats the point. To give life, to offer health, is not really a gift that can be payed for. I sit in gratitude for some time, admiring Mulleins towering confidence.
