looduskalender.ee

The mullein with its imposing looks and legendary healing powers is a biennial plant. During its first year of growth we only find a basal rosette of leaves covered with grey hairs; during the second year the stem, densely covered with velvety leaves, strives upwards from the centre of the rosette, with numerous yellow flowers in the upper part. After the flowering, when the seeds have ripened, the plant dies. In nature it uses several different "tricks” for the survival of the species. Only a small part of the many seeds of the mullein will germinate the next spring, the rest remain in the ground waiting, if needed even for hundreds of years. The dry pebble areas in northern and western Estonia suit the mullein, and there it grows locally.