mullein

Meaning

Noun

• Any of several European and Asian plants, of the genus Verbascum, that have yellow flowers and downy leaves; the velvet plant.

Related

Similar words

• Aaron's rod, cow's lungwort, feltwort, flannel leaf, velvet plant

Narrower meaning words

• common mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
• Cretan mullein (Verbascum creticum (species))
• dark mullein (Verbascum nigrum (species))
• great mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
• hoary mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum (species))
• white mullein (Verbascum lychnitis (species))
• moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria (species))
• mullein foxglove (Dasistoma macrophylla (species), syn. Seymeria macrophylla (species))
• mullein pink (Silene coronaria, syn. Lychnis coronaria)
• mullein wave (Scopula marginepunctata (species))
• nettle-leaved mullein (Verbascum chaixii (species))
• orange mullein (Verbascum phlomoides (species))
• petty mullein (Primula veris)
• purple mullein (Verbascum phoeniceum (species))
• sage mullein, sageleaf mullein (Phlomis spp.)
• showy mullein (Verbascum speciosum (species))
• turkey mullein (Croton setiger (species), syn. Eremocarpus setiger (species))
• twiggy mullein (Verbascum virgatum (species))
• wavyleaf mullein Verbascum sinuatum (species))
• woolly mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

Origin

• From Middle English moleyne, from Anglo-Norman moleine, which is either a Celtic borrowing and derived from Proto-Celtic *melinos from *meli – an adjective found in Breton melen and Welsh melyn ("yellow") – or from mol, from Latin mollis, referencing the plant's fluffy, downy leaves, also apparent in synonyms such as feltwort, flannel leaf, and velvet plant.