Mullein Pictures

Easily Identify Mullein in all Seasons
and in Every Stage of its Life Cycle!

Since Mullein is biennial, it lives through just 2 seasons, but thankfully easily reseeds itself in approximately the same location. This makes it convenient when you want find some the next year!

Of course if you want it in your garden, don't depend on the birds or the wind. Gather the seeds and transport them yourself.

It will take a few minutes for these Mullein pictures to load, if you are on a S-L-O-W dial-up Internet connection like I am. But, I think you will find them worth the wait!











Dried Seed Stalk:
We'll start our Mullein pictures at the end of this biennial's second year. This is when the seed is formed, and the mother plant dies.

But, never fear! It easily re-seeds itself, so you will see several daughter plants gathered around the dead stalk come early next Spring.

New Spring Whorl:
Here she is! One of the daughter plants beginning its own 2-year life cycle. These soft, silvery-green whorls appear early in the spring, sometimes peeking through the snow.

It will add more leaves, and they will grow in size. But this is pretty much how the plant looks through-out the first year and into the beginning the second.

Beginning to bolt:
By early Summer, the second year plant begins to bolt. Notice the fine hairs densely covering the leaves!

Beginning flower stalk:
In mid to late June the mullein stalks begin to reach for the sky! They will eventually be 4 to 6 feet tall. For point of reference, Daniel, my 8 year old son, is about 4 1/2 feet tall.

He, loves to go on herb walks with me, (I think he likes being in the mullein pictures too!) He is quite good at spotting healthful herbs. I am surprised at how much he knows!

Full buds:
These buds are just about to open. Now is the time to harvest the leaves because the essential oils and nutrients in the leaves are at their peak.

Harvesting leaves:
Harvesting mullein leaves is easy. A pair of scissors and a basket is all the equipment you'll need.

Grasp the leaf and cut close to the stalk. You are ready to tincture or dry your leaves!

Remember: Harvest no more than 1/4 of the leaves off any one plant. This will keep the plant strong so it will continue to grow, produce blossoms for your use and seeds for propagation.










Mature flower stalk:
As the flower stalk reaches its full growth, the buds quickly open to reveal golden-yellow, honey-scented flowers.

Blossoms:
When the blooms open, it is time to harvest them for tincture or air-dry them to make an infused oil.

Harvesting blooms:
My daughter, Julie, is harvesting mullein flowers. The flowers have no individual stalks, so they are easily plucked from mullein's flower spike.
They are then air-dried and then made into an infused oil, historically used for earaches, hemorrhoids, etc.

Dried seed stalk close-up:
Having come full cycle, this mullein plant has formed seed. The birds will eat some, and the wind will scatter some more in the same general area making new mullein plants easy to find next year!

Harvested Dried seed stalk:
After snapping off the top of a dried mullein stalk, you can harvest the seeds to plant in your garden.

Removing seeds from stalk:
The mullein seeds are small like grains of sand. To get them, crush the dried seed pods and remove them from the stalk.

Sifting Seed:
Pour the crushed seed pods into a strainer and sift over a paper plate. The tiny mullein seeds fall right through!

Mullein Seeds:
Amazing how many seeds are in the stalk of one mullein plant, isn't it? Plenty to produce an abundant supply in your garden!

Note: Mullein thrives in poor soil, so you can put these seeds where other plants won't grow.

Seeds into jar:
If you want to store the seeds for any length of time, you will need a dark glass jar with a good seal to its lid. Just pour them in, and they'll be ready for sowing next spring.

Label the Jar:
Always remember to label and date your jar. Believe me, you do not want to be puzzling over "what is what" later on!

I hope these mullein pictures have given you the confidence you need to identify this herb!

Once you know what mullein is, and have gone out and found it for yourself, I know you will want to learn all you can about it!

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