Common mullein
Verbascum thapsus
Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a dramatic, architectural biennial native across Europe, Asia, and North Africa (POWO, Kew) and now naturalised almost worldwide. In its first year it forms a large, flat ground-rosette of big, soft, felted, silvery-grey woolly leaves; in its second year it sends up a tall, stout, woolly flowering spike densely set with soft-yellow five-petalled flowers, then sets seed and dies. It is an unmistakable vertical exclamation point for hot, dry, poor, or stony soil in full sun. Honest caveat: it self-seeds prolifically and is a widespread naturalised weed across North America and elsewhere (listed as noxious in some places), so site it only where seedlings are welcome and deadhead to control spread. Bees collect pollen from the flowers and goldfinches take the seed.
Climate fit: moderate (47/100)
Focal point
Structure
Pollinator
Light
Full sun
Water
Low water
Mature size
48-84" tall · 18" apart
Hardy in zones
3a-8b
brutally cold to frosty winters
Native in Illinois
No
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An insect-visited ornamental biennial whose soft-yellow flowers offer pollen rather than copious nectar; bees collect pollen from the open blooms.
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Well-suited
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Well-suited
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✓
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
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Where this plant fits
Suitable across 40 ecoregions — 35 climate-resilient through 2070 · 5 suited today. Best matches first.
Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
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Arizona Mountains forests
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Blue Mountains forests
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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
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Central Tallgrass prairie
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Colorado Rockies forests
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Cross-Timbers savanna-woodland
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Similar plants
Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.
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Blue sea holly
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Globe thistle
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Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Retrieved 2026, June 25, from https://plotwright.com/plants/verbascum-thapsus
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
Plants of the World Online (POWO)
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
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