Mullen (Verbascum thapsus), a member of the Snapdragon (Scrophulariacea Family is about chest high in myth and folklore. Take a look at some of these folk names, for starters: Adam's Flannel, Blanket-leaf, Bullock's Lungwort, Candlewick, Feltwort, Flannel Weed, Goosegrass, Hag Taper, Hare's-beard, Indian Tobacco, Lamb's-tongue, Old Man' Flannel, Poultice Weed, Torches, and Torchwort. And that's just a sampling.
A couple or three recurring themes pop up in the list of folk names. The most obvious is the reference to the velvety soft, downy leaves. There are some medicinal uses implied in the list, as well the plant's use as a candlewick or torch. But let's drift a little further from the straight and narrow...
...to the contradictory virtues of the plant. In medieval times it was used as a charm against demons in monasteries: Get thee away, demon from the abyss! At the same time it was no stranger to the brews and potions of witches: Bubble, bubble, toil and ... a half teaspoon of dried mullen leaves. I wonder which side had it right? Knowing the universe as I do, I wouldn't be surprised if it worked both ways (which is more fun to consider than not at all).
In the medicinal milieu, ancient Romans used mullen as a remedy for coughs. The Mohegan-Pequot Indians smoked the leaves as a treatment for asthma and sore throats. The Iroquois used the leaves in poultices for sores and swellings.
Cotton Mather claimed that "a gentleman from Germany releeved his gout" with mullen. "He gathered Mullein, when it was in flowre, and cutt off a good quantitie of it small, stalk, flowre, leaf, and all; and boiled it in a pail-full of forge-water taken from a smith's trough; and then putt into it a large piece of chalk in powder. In this water he bathed his feet, legs, and knees, as hott as he could endure it in a tub till the water grew cold; he then buried this water, with the ingredients, in his garden."
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