Family Medicine Chest: Mullein

The family medicine chest will be an ongoing series on the fourth Thursday of each month.

This month, As a request, I’ll be writing about mullein. Each month, I open up my home and teach a Herbal Study Group. We read about the particular herb, taste it fresh and dried, make infusions and teas to drink and do various other exercises to learn about it. The following is my hand out for Mullein.

Next month, I’ll follow up with last month’s post about cough drops with lozenges and pills.

The down on the leaves and stem makes excellent tinder when quite dry, readily igniting on the slightest spark, and was, before the introduction of cotton, used for lamp wicks, hence another of the old names: ‘Candlewick Plant.’ An old superstition existed that witches in their incantations used lamps and candles provided with wicks of this sort, and another of the plant’s many names, ‘Hag’s Taper’, refers to this, though the word ‘hag’ is said to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word Haege or Hage (a hedge) – the name ‘Hedge Taper’ also exists – and may imply that the sturdy spikes of this tall hedge plant, studded with pale yellow blossoms, suggested a tall candle growing in the hedge, another of its countryside names being, indeed, ‘Our Lady’s Candle.’ Lyte (The Niewe Herball, 1578) tells us ‘that the whole toppe, with its pleasant yellow floures sheweth like to a wax candle or taper cunningly wrought.’

Mullein facts:

• Native to Britain, Europe and parts of Asia
• Grows mostly on dry soils

Mullein description:

• In the first season of the plant’s growth, there appears only a rosette of large leaves, 6 to 15 inches long, in form somewhat like those of the Foxglove, but thicker – whitish with a soft, dense mass of hairs on both sides, which make them very thick to the touch.
• In the following spring, a solitary, stout, pale stem, with tough, strong fibers enclosing a thin rod of white pith, arises from the midst of the felted leaves
• Leaves near the base of the stem are large and numerous, 6 to 8 inches long and 2 to 2 1/2 inches broad, but become smaller as they ascend the stem, on which they are arranged not opposite to one another, but on alternate sides; are broad and simple in form, the outline rather waved, stalkless, their bases being continued some distance down the stem, as in the Comfrey and a few other plants, the midrib from a quarter to half-way up the blade being actually joined to the stem
• Towards the top of the stalk, which grows frequently 4 or even 5 feet high, and in gardens has been known to attain a height of 7 or 8 feet, the much-diminished woolly leaves merge into the thick, densely crowded flower-spike, usually a foot long, the flowers opening here and there on the spike, not in regular progression from the base
• Flowers are stalkless, the sulphur-yellow corolla, a somewhat irregular cup, nearly an inch across, formed of five rounded petals, united at the base to form a very short tube, being enclosed in a woolly calyx, deeply cut into five lobes
• The five stamens stand on the corolla; three of them are shorter than the other two and have a large number of tiny white hairs on their filaments

Mullein nutritional information:

• Vitamins B2, B5, B12, & D
• Choline
• Herperidin
• PABA
• Sulfur
• Magnesium

Mullein constituents:

• Flavonoids such as verbascoside and herperidin
• Mucilage
• Saponins
• Tannins
• Volatile oil

Mullein actions:

• Expectorant
• Demulcent
• Diuretic
• Anti-inflammatory
• Nervine
• Anti-spasmodic
• Vulnerary
• Alterative
• Astringent

Mullein Medicinal Indications:

• A very beneficial respiratory remedy useful inmost conditions that affect this vital system; an ideal remedy for toning the mucous membranes of the respiratory system, reducing inflammation whilst stimulating fluid production and thus facilitating expectoration
• It is considered a specific in bronchitis where there is a hard cough with soreness
• Its anti-inflammatory and demulcent properties indicate its use in inflammation of the trachea and associated conditions
• Externally an extract made in olive oil is excellent in soothing and healing any inflamed surface or easing ear problems.

Mullein Applications:

• Infusion of leaves – Use 1/2 ounce of dried leaves per cup of boiling water. Steep 10 minutes. Drink up to 3 cups a day.
• Tincture – take 1-2 teaspoons up to 3 times a day
• Oil of flowers (best when used in combination with garlic) – warm oil to body temperature, add 3 drops to both ears at first sign of ear infection

Preserving mullein:

• Drying (leaves)

Getting to Know mullein:

Experiment 1 — Know what it looks like

Study a live plant or pictures if the live version is not available. Notice how it grown out of the ground. Is is bushy? Does it sprawl? Where are the leaves located? What do the flowers look like? Sketch the plant on the last page of this handout.

Experiment 2 — Taste the herb

Try it both fresh and dried. What does it taste like in both instances?
Fresh leaf:
Dried leaf:

Experiment 3 – making an infusion

• 4 tablespoons raw herb (leaves and stems, chopped) = 1 tablespoon dried.
• Use 1 tbsp dried herb per cup of water. Boil water, and remove from flame. Add herb and steep 10-20 minutes.
• Compare the difference between fresh and dried infusions
• Compare the difference between warm and chilled infusions

	Fresh leaf	Dried leaf
hot
cold

Experiment 4 – making a medicinal remedy

Mullein-Garlic Ear Oil

• Equal parts of Fresh Mullein flower and Garlic
• Olive oil
• Place mullein and garlic in a quart jar. Cover with oil by 2-3”. Seal and set in sun for 4-6 weeks, shaking daily. Strain off herbs.

Experiment 5– cooking with mullein

Mullein is not usually used in cooking

Experiment 6 – Further study/references

The following are some internet sites that have great information on mullein:

• http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?ID=1405
  http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
• http://www.prodigalgardens.info/march%20weblog.htm#Mullein
• http://www.ryandrum.com/threeherbs1.htm
• http://altnature.com/gallery/mullien.htm
• http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mulgre63.html

On your own, read at least three separate sources of information regarding mullein. The following are some books that have information but do not limit your search to my selections.

• Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants by Steve Brill pgs. 247 – 249
• All About Weeds by Edwin Rollin Spencer pgs. 228 – 233
• Indian Herbology of North America by Alma Hutchins pgs. 201 – 203
• Earth Mother Herbal by Shatoiya De La Tour pgs 84 – 86
• A Modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Grieve pgs. 562 – 566
• The Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman p. 159
• The Complete Medicinal Herbal by Penelope Ody p. 111
• Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal by Rosemary Gladstar p. 352 – 353

See if you can locate mullein growing nearby your home. Dig some up, pot it up and put it in a location where you can observe it every day for the next month or visit