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Mullein

 - 3 dictionary results

mul⋅lein

[muhl-uhn]
–noun
1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Verbascum, of the figwort family, native to the Old World, esp. V. thapsus, a tall plant with woolly leaves and a dense spike of yellow flowers.
2. any of several similar plants.
Also, mullen.


Origin:
1325–75; ME moleine < AF, perh. deriv. of mol soft < L mollis
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mul·lein   (mŭl'ən)   
n.  Any of various Eurasian plants of the genus Verbascum, especially V. thapsus, a tall plant having closely clustered yellow flowers and leaves covered with dense woolly down. Also called flannel leaf, velvet plant.

[Middle English moleine, from Anglo-Norman, probably from mol, soft, from Latin mollis; see moil.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

mullein

any of the 360 species of the genus Verbascum (family Scrophulariaceae), large biennial or perennial herbs native to northern temperate regions, especially eastern Eurasia. The common mullein (V. thapsus) grows 0.6 to 2 metres (2 to 7 feet) tall, has a single, unbranched stem with large, thick, densely velvety leaves, and has pale-yellow, slightly irregular flowers about 2.5 cm (1 inch) across in a crowded terminal spike

Learn more about mullein with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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