Verbascum phoeniceum L.
Fully hardy, rosette-forming biennial with heavily veined, dark green basal leaves, to 15cm long, with slender racemes, to 30cm long, of saucer-shaped pink or violet-purple, sometimes white, flowers, to 3cm across, in spring and summer. To 1.2m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Horticultural & Botanical History
Introduced to Britain in 1796. [PD]. ‘The Mulleins are all shewy plants; this species, a native of the southern parts of Europe, having bright purple flowers is very ornamental, and has been long thought worthy of cultivation, being seen in our gardens before the time of Gerard. Is a perfetly hardy perennial, ” the roote (as Parkinson observes) abiding sundry yeares,” though some have supposed it to be only biennial, an error still handed down in Martyn’s Miller’s Dictionary. May be easily propagated by parting its roots or by seeds, which however with us it rarely produces, though in some years abundantly. Succeeds best in a sandy loam with an eastern exposure; its stems, if not tied up, are liable to suffer from high winds. Blooms through the months of May and June.’ [BM t.885/1806].
History at Camden Park
Listed only in a handwritten note in an 1850 catalogue in the Mitchell library collection. [ML A635.9m]. Almost certainly grown in the gardens at this time.
Notes
Published Sep 24, 2009 - 05:11 PM | Last updated Feb 18, 2010 - 05:25 PM
Verbascum phoeniceum L. | BM t.885/1806 | BHL
| Family | Scrophulariaceae |
|---|---|
| Category | |
| Region of origin | Southern Europe, northern Africa, central Asia |
| Synonyms | |
| Common Name | Purple mullein |
| Name in the Camden Park Record | Verbascum phoeniceum |
| Confidence level | high |