MULLEIN, a genus of plants (verbaseum) of the natural order scrophulariacere, con sisting of tail, more or less woolly, biennial or perennial herbs with flowers in dense spikes or terminal racemes. Calyx five-parted, corolla somewhat unequally five-lobed, wheel-shaped. five woolly stamens. and a two-celled, two-valved, many-seeded capsule. Three European species. V. 6lattariu, V, lychnitis, and V thapsus, have been naturalized in North America, and in Europe the leaves and flowers of two allied species, V. thapsiforme, and V. phlmnoides, are also collected. The only species growing in North America which is used in medicine is V. thapsus, the common mullein, so often met in pasture fields and on roadsides: It has leaves from 8 to 12 in. long, the upper ones sessile, and all decurrent, varying in shape from elliptic to oblong and oval-lanceolate; more or less crenate on the margin, and thickly covered with soft white hairs, They have but little smell, are mucilaginous, and have a faintly bitter taste. The corolla and the adhering stamens are the only part of the flower which is collected for the shops generally. The
corolla is about 1 in. broad, the three upper stamens having filaments covered with white wool; the two lower ones longer and smooth, with elongated decurrent anthers. The flowers are thoroughly dried and kept in dry, well-stoppered bottles,which preserves their delicate color; dampness causes them to turn dark. Morin obtained from them a trace of a yellowish volatile oil, a fatty substance, sugar, and coloring matter, which is insoluble in ether and cold water, but yields an alcoholic solution which gives a yellow precipitate when treated with a solution of acetate of lead. The leaves Villa vcrbasci) furnish the principal medicinal properties of the plant, but the flowers are used to make poultices, and the whole flower, with the peduncle, is often used by the Germans to make a gargle for ulcerated sore throat. Au infusion of the leaves is used in catarrhal affections of the respiratory organs and the bowels, and in cystitis oil impregnated with the volatile oil of the flowers is used in Germany for frost bite and hemorrhoids.