Common mullein prefers, but is not limited to, dry sandy soils. Brought over from Europe by settlers, it was used as a medicinal herb, as a remedy for coughs and diarrhea and a respiratory stimulant for the lungs when smoked. A methanol extract from common mullein has been used as an insecticide for mosquito larvae. During this vegetative stage, the rosette increases in size during the growing season until low temperatures arrest growth sometime during the autumn and winter. Beginning the next spring, second year plants bolt into maturity, flower, produce seed during the summer, and then die, completing the plant s normal life cycle.
Flowers mature from the base to the tip of the stalk.
It is estimated that a single plant can produce 100,000-180,000 seeds which may remain viable for more than 100 years. The seeds are dispersed mechanically near the parent plant during the autumn and winter. Seeds at or near the surface are more likely to germinate. Although common mullein can be very difficult to eradicate, there are a variety of management methods available, depending on the particular situation. Because mullein seedling emergence is dependent on the presence of bare ground, sowing sites with early successional native grasses or other plants may decrease seed germination and the chance of successful emergence of mullein seedlings.