Mullein - Verbascum phoeniceum

Biennial. If you've ever encountered a tall, "woolly" plant with a yellow candle-like spike of flowers growing along the wayside, you've probably discovered a mullein plant. Medicinally, mullein was infused in olive oil to formulate a remedy for bruises, insect bites, hemorrhoids and earache. A poultice was sometimes made from the leaves or flowers as a treatment for burns and boils. But, mullein's best contribution as a medicinal herb is as a cough suppressant. Mullein flowers and leaves contain a significant amount of mucilage and saponins which lend a mild demulcent quality. In fact, the leaves were once smoked as a remedy for asthma, bronchitis and other inflammatory disorders. I wouldn't recommend doing so, however, since the fine hairs of the leaves are responsible for an allergic reaction in some people. Mullein does make an excellent tea or is a nice addition to cough syrups to ease a scratchy throat. For that purpose, it is also effective in combinations with horehound and slippery elm. Of course, you may prefer to sample mullein prepared as a cough drop so that you can benefit from its soothing qualities wherever you are.