Moth Mullein.Verbascum Blattaria.
Found, during July and August, on sand-banks, pastures, and waysides.
The leafy, large, round stalk grows to be 2 or 3 feet high; it is tough-fibred, and the surface is ridgy and smooth; light green.
The large leaf is oblong in shape with an irregularly notched and toothed margin; its stout midrib is flattened above, all the ribs and veins show plainly, the texture being thin and smooth, the upper surface somewhat glossy. The lowest leaves are on short stems, the others are somewhat clasping; they are placed alternately, and near together. The color is a pleasing green.
The corolla is like the common Mullein in shape and texture; in color either yellow, or white, tinted with lavender. The 5 stamens, with curiously shaped, red-orange tips, are fringed with a double row of dull crimson, woolly threads; the pistil, also, is orange-tipped; the calyx is 5-parted, with slender tips. The flowers, on slender stems, are placed alternately, in long, leafy spires. All the calices, little leaves, and foot-stems are covered with fine woolly hairs.
The bud is 5-sided, and the seed-box is a good deal inflated. The peculiar orange of the stamen tips resembles a flowering moss,—their woolly fringe, of course, occasions the name. This elegantly growing plant, with its interesting leaf, is common only in certain localities.