Mullein Benefits, Usage, Medicinal Properties, Nutrition, Dosage, Preparations, safety, science backed and traditional view

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus - L.) also known as Great Mullein, Common mullein, Aaron's Rod, Flannel Plant, Hag Taper, Mullein, Torches, Velvet Plant, Figwort, Jupiter’s Staff, Blanket Herb, Jacob's Staff. Peter's Staff. Shepherd's Staff. Shepherd's Clubs. Beggar's Stalk, Jia Yan Ye, Dziewanna.

 

There are around 300 species of mullein. They are typically biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals. A dense rosette of leaves at the ground sends up a tall flowering stem. Small, yellow five-stamen flowers are densely grouped on the tall stem, which bolts. Leaves are large, up to 50 cm long. All parts are covered in star-shaped trichomes, particularly the leaves, giving them a silver appearance. In the first year only, the plant will produce a rosette of downy leaves; in the second year, it will produce a long, flowering stalk.

Mullein is native to Europe, Africa, and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean. It has now also been introduced to America and Australia. Mullein likes chalky soil and a sunny location and will flourish almost anywhere.

 

 

Part used: Leaf, Flower

 

Constituents: aucubin, harpagide, and harpagoside, flavonoids including kaempferol, hesperidin, verbascoside, apigenin, quercetin and rutin, phenylethanoid glycosides such as verbascoside, triterpene saponins including thapsuines, polysaccharides, phenolic acids, phytosterol glycosides and digiprolactone. Polyphenolcarboxylic acids, with large concentrations of caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and rosmarinic acid,  tannins, alkaloids, steroids, volatile oils, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

 

Flavour/Temps: Astringent and somewhat Sweet, Moist with drying effect, Cool

Astringing, Relaxing, Restoring, Thickening

 

Tropism: Intestines, Lungs, Bladder, Stomach

 

Meridians: Bladder, Lungs, Stomach, Large Intestine

Fluid and Warmth bodies

 

Key actions in western medicine: Anti-inflammatory, Hypnotic, Anticancer, Demulcent, Sedative, Expectorant, Moistening, Astringent, Diuretic, Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Analgesic, Antispasmodic, Emollient, Vulnerary.

 

Indications in western medicine: Lung TB; Tracheitis, Laryngitis, Flu; Bronchitis esp. acute, Cough esp. hard, dry; Immediate Allergies esp. allergic asthma, allergic rhinitis; Haemorrhage external or internal esp. from intestines, lungs; Spasmodic Asthma, Whooping cough; Eye, Mouth and middle ear inflammations; Cystitis chronic and acute; Drawing thorns and splinters; Enteritis chronic and acute, painful diarrhoea; Myalgia, earache, toothache; Lymphadenitis, tumors, swollen scrotum or testicles; Eczema, skin infections, scurf, dermatosis; Ulcers esp. with pus and swelling, Open Sores; Haemorrhoids, Bladder irritation, strangury, bedwetting, neurogenic bladder.

 

Key actions in eastern medicine: Descends Lung QI, Open The Chest and Relieves Wheezing; Reduces Allergy; Harmonises Urination and Relieve Irritation; Draws Splinters; Promotes Expectoration and Resolves Viscous Phlegm; Clears Toxic Heat, Benefits the Skin and Decongest the Lymph; Tonifies Yin; Tonifies Lung Qi; Resolves Damp; Softens Boils; Clears Damp-Heat and stops Bleeding and Discharge.

 

Indications in eastern medicine: Lung Qi Constraint (nervous cough, wheezing, anxiety, rasping/tickling dry, tight chest; Skin Damp-Heat red rashes (dry or wet); Large Intestine Damp-Heat / -cold (blood in stool, abdominal pain, urgent loose stool); Lung Dryness – Lung Yin deficiency (scanty, blood-streaked sputum, dry and weak cough); Fire Toxins (abscesses, boils, furuncles); Bladder Qi Constraint (painful or frequent and difficult urination);Lung phlegm-damp / -heat (chest distension and pain, full cough with viscous yellow or white sputum)Bladder Damp-Heat (frequent, urgent and painful urination, water retention, backache, thirst); Lung phlegm-dryness (sticky and scanty sputum, hard, dry hacking cough), Lung heat-dryness (fever, thirst, restlessness, hoarse dry cough)

 

 

Preparation: Infusion, Tincture, Infused Oil, Sirup

 

Dosage 3 times daily unless instructed otherwise by Herbalist:

Infusion leaf 4-14g

Infusion flower 1-3g

Tincture Leaf 1:3, 25% ethanol, 2-8ml

Tincture leaf 1:5, 25% ethanol 2.5 -12ml

Tincture flower 1:3, 25% ethanol, 1-4 ml

Tincture flower 1:5, 25% ethanol, 1.5-6 ml

 

Note: Mullein sirup is perfect remedy for all respiratory conditions described above.

Note Mullein flower is much more effective than leaf for treating asthmatic conditions.

Note: Mullein infused oil, made from flowers will be very useful treat swollen, inflamed and painful conditions as well as deafness, ear discharge and earache.

Note: Mullein do not need very large amounts to achieve medicinal actions, and for best effects is to give small doses frequently. In tincture that would be 1 or 2 ml at a time but repeated every few hours if needed. Small frequent dose in tea form can have rapid benefit if taken in regular doses until the condition has shifted.

 

Synergy examples: Combine with Liquorice root for soothing the bronchial tract, with Elecampane for deep lung congestion and with Marshmallow for painful coughs.

 

Cautions: Mullein is mild remedy with minimal chronic Toxicity. Some increase in coughing and cleansing of the lungs is to be expected with Mullein when it is taken for respiratory troubles, but that actually good sign, saying medicine working! Otherwise, no adverse effects are expected from taking Mullein, even in high or frequent doses. It may be confidently taken during pregnancy or whilst breastfeeding and used by the old and young safely.

 

Contradictions: None know

 

Interactions with drugs: None known

 

Side effects: None known

 

History and Folklore:

 

Formerly the flowers of several species of Mullein were officinal, but Mullein no longer has a place in the British Pharmacopoeia, though Verbascum Flowers were introduced into the 4th Edition of the United States National Formulary, as one of the ingredients in pectoral remedies, and the leaves, in fluid extract of Mullein leaves, made with diluted alcohol were directed to be used as a demulcent, the dose being 1 fluid drachm.

The down on the leaves and stem makes excellent tinder when quite dry, readily igniting on the slightest spark, and was, before the introduction of cotton, used for lamp wicks, hence another of the old names: 'Candlewick Plant.' An old superstition existed that witches in their incantations used lamps and candles provided with wicks of this sort, and another of the plant's many names, 'Hag's Taper', refers to this, though the word 'hag' is said to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word Haege or Hage (a hedge) - the name 'Hedge Taper' also exists - and may imply that the sturdy spikes of this tall hedge plant, studded with pale yellow blossoms, suggested a tall candle growing in the hedge, another of its countryside names being, indeed, 'Our Lady's Candle.' Lyte (The Niewe Herball, 1578) tells us 'that the whole toppe, with its pleasant yellow floures sheweth like to a wax candle or taper cunningly wrought.'

 

'Torches' is another name for the plant, and Parkinson tells us:

'Verbascum is called of the Latines Candela regia, and Candelaria, because the elder age used the stalks dipped in suet to burne, whether at funeralls or otherwise.'

And Gerard (1597) also remarks that it is 'a plant whereof is made a manner of lynke (link) if it be talowed.' Dr. Prior, in The Popular Names of British Plants, states that the word Mullein was Moleyn in AngloSaxon, and Malen in Old French, derived from the Latin malandrium, i.e. the malanders or leprosy, and says:

'The term "malandre" became also applied to diseases of cattle, to lung diseases among the rest, and the plant being used as a remedy, acquired its name of "Mullein" and "Bullock's Lungwort." '

Coles, in 1657, in Adam in Eden, says that:

'Husbandmen of Kent do give it their cattle against the cough of the lungs, and I, therefore, mention it because cattle are also in some sort to be provided for in their diseases.'

The name 'Clown's Lung Wort refers to its use as a homely remedy. 'Ag-Leaf' and 'Ag-Paper' are other names for it. 'Wild Ice Leaf' perhaps refers to the white look of the leaves. Few English plants have so many local names.

The Latin name Verbascum is considered to be a corruption of barbascum, from the Latin barba (a beard), in allusion to the shaggy foliage, and was bestowed on the genus by Linnaeus.

 

Both in Europe and Asia the power of driving away evil spirits was ascribed to the Mullein. In India it has the reputation among the natives that the St. John's Wort once had here, being considered a sure safeguard against evil spirits and magic, and from the ancient classics we learn that it was this plant which Ulysses took to protect himself against the wiles of Circe.

 

The Cowslip and the Primrose are classed together by our old herbalists as Petty Mulleins, and are usually credited with much the same properties. Gerard recommends both the flowers and leaves of the primrose, boiled in wine, as a remedy for all diseases of the lungs and the juice of the root itself, snuffed up the nose, for megrim.

 

All the various species of Mullein found in Britain possess similar medicinal properties, but V. thapsus, the species of most common occurrence, is the one most employed.

 

The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia describes the actions of Mullein as 'expectorant, demulcent, mild diuretic, topically vulnerary & emollient'. It says it is indicated for 'bronchitis, tracheitis, influenzas cold with respiratory catarrh' and specifically indicated for 'bronchitis with hard cough and soreness'. The BHP recommends a dose of 4-8 grams by infusion.

Mullein was used as a healing tobacco by American Indians to treat pulmonary ailments, including asthma. Native Americans also used to grind the seeds as a paralytic solution for catching fish due to the plant’s high levels of rotenone, which causes paralysis, making it easy to catch them.

Kings Dispensatory writes 'Mullein is demulcent, diuretic, anodyne, and antispasmodic. It is mildly nervine, controlling irritation, and favouring sleep. Upon the upper portion of the respiratory tract its influence is pronounced, particularly where the larynx and trachea are involved, useful in coughs, protracted colds, catarrh, haemoptysis, diarrhoea, dysentery, and piles. It is applicable to dry, hoarse coughs, which occur chiefly at night, as well as to cough associated with an abundant catarrhal discharge. The flowers, placed in a well-corked bottle, and exposed to the action of the sun, are said to yield an excellent relaxing oil. This oil is also valuable in some cases of deafness, used locally for its effect upon the membrane tympani, and upon the secretion of cerumen'

Mullein is useful for soothing the skin, reducing pain, calming lung spasms, clearing phlegm, inducing sleep, and treating chronic coughs.

Inhaling the steam vapor of the plant is used to ease congestion.

Mullein flowers steeped in olive oil for about three weeks produce an ointment useful for treating frostbite, chapped skin, hemorrhoids, and earache. It is even used to remove rough warts if applied as a poultice.

The plant’s saponins make a natural detergent that helps the lungs expectorate phlegm by promoting a more productive cough. The mucilage simultaneously also helps to soothe irritated respiratory system membranes.

Mullein can be used by gardeners as a good indicator of the level of toxicity of a planted area. If the plants’ stalks grow tall and straight, the soil is good; if they grow crooked or weak, the soil is chemically contaminated.

During the American Civil War, the Confederate army used mullein to treat respiratory problems. By 1913, mullein had become extremely popular in America as a treatment for coughs and conditions such as inflamed mucous membranes lining the throat. The steam was often inhaled to relieve cold symptoms such as nasal congestion and throat irritations.

Oil of Mullein for ear troubles, or as a chest rub, can be especially beneficial. Finlay Ellingwood writes of the oil of Mullein for the ears 'the most direct use of this agent is in the treatment of simple uncomplicated cases of deafness, or in the early stages of progressive deafness where the cause is not apparent. In these cases, from, two to five drops in the ear, three or four times each day, will stop the progress of the disease, and will cure many simple cases. In its local influence, it softens and facilitates the removal of hardened secretions, stimulating the nerve structures at the same time. It has positive anodyne (pain-relieving) properties, and is curative in a large number of the ordinary cases of earache in children, acting often more quickly than other and better known agents, and is used with perfect safety, as it has no irritating or toxic properties'

 

Tea made from the leaves of mullein is useful for treating respiratory infections. These include mild or chronic sore throats, coughing and raspiness, asthma, and congestion. A tincture made from the flowers can be used to treat the same conditions but is considered significantly stronger than the tea. Mullein is not noted for its pleasant taste, so it is often prepared with boiled milk to make drinking it as a medicine easier.

Laboratory research suggests that various mullein species exhibit activity against strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Escherichia coli

Laboratory research suggests that an aqueous methanolic extract of the aerial parts of mullein can induce paralysis in adult roundworms (Ascaridia galli) and tapeworms (Raillietina spiralis), comparable to albendazole. Paralysis occurred faster with higher concentrations of the extract

Laboratory research suggests that a mullein flower extract exhibits dose-dependent free radical scavenging activity, likely related to the polyphenol content, and also related to the caffeic, ferulic, and rosmarinic acids, and quercetin and apigenin. It also inhibits tumor necrosis factor-alpha induced intracellular adhesion molecule 1 at higher concentrations. 

Laboratory research suggests that an aqueous methanolic extract of the aerial parts of mullein produces a concentration dependent relaxation of spontaneous contractions in dissected jejunum. This is possibly mediated through actions on voltage sensitive L-type calcium channels

Laboratory research suggests that a saponin glycoside isolated from mullein flowers directly inactivates ribosomes, which may be beneficial in inhibiting protein synthesis in tumor cells

Laboratory research suggests that mullein exhibits activity against Herpes simplex type 1 virus. It may also have activity against influenza A and B

 

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