Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

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Saturday - June 18, 2011

From: Mason, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Hello- I would like to know what is this plant? It grows in part to full sun over a large area; gray fuzzy, quilted, pointed leaves. It is now about 6-10" tall plants but there are untrimmed 24-30" dried stalks. The gray-green stalks are starting to show tiny clusters of flower heads surrounding the stem near the top. So far, they have had only rain (not much!). I would attach a photo if I could.. Thank you.

ANSWER:

This sounds like Verbascum thapsus (common mullein). It is an introduced plant from Eurasia and Africa and is considerered invasive or noxious over most of North America; however, herbalists are enthusiastic about its medicinal properties and these properties are probably why early settler's to North America imported it sometime in the late 1700s. Here are more photos and information.