Mullein, Great for Coughs, Respiratory Illness and more!
BACKGROUND / DESCRIPTION
Mullein is an easy to grow herb, often seen in fields and ditches. We once harvested a dozen wonderful plants from along side the road in downtown Hannibal. It’s a multi-purpose herb, and offers many healing abilities from its flowers, leaves and root. The stalk can grow 6 feet high, with the leaves up to 2 feet across.
Mullein has been used since ancient times as a remedy for skin, throat and breathing ailments as well as non-medical uses of dying and making torches. It has been used for over 2000 years to treat pulmonary ailments, and is a primary agent for coughs. Mullein has been known since the time of Ulysses, who is said to have used it as protection from evil spirits. Mullein was native to regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It became naturalized in Europe and later escaped to North America, where it is often found growing wild in waste places and along roads as a weed. Native Americans learned to use the plant to make syrups against croup.
Anciently, fresh Mullein stalks were dipped in melted fat, ignited, and carried as flaming tapers in ceremonial processions. The large, soft, hair-covered leaves were used as diapers by some early Indians and the leaves were also stuffed in shoes to keep thinly shod feet warm in the winter.
Today, Mullein can be used as a floral rinse to brighten blonde hair and the leaves and flowers contain mucilage and are valued for their soothing effects. Mullein is usually made into a tea either by itself or with Sage, Marjoram, or Chamomile. It is enjoyed by many boiled in milk and sweetened with honey.
Mullein has an assortment of uses. It has long had a medicinal reputation, especially as an astringent and emollient, as it contains mucilage, several saponins, coumarin and glycosides. The thick, soft leaves, are used to treat respiratory illness. They have been shown to loosen congestion and help clear the lungs. The tiny hairs on the leaves can be irritating, and teas should be filtered to avoid this problem. A tincture would alleviate this issue, although it is extremely bitter.
Mullein flowers also provide a soothing and cleansing effect to the skin. As a wash, they are a treatment for minor wounds and scrapes. These same flowers can be picked throughout the growing season, placed in olive oil and left to infuse. The resulting infusion is wonderful for earaches that do NOT involve a ruptured eardrum. Add beeswax to the infused oil, and you will have a balm that makes a great addition to any baby's changing table. The delicate skin of a baby's diaper area can benefit from a light layer of this mullein balm. Oil from the flowers was used against catarrhs, colics and, in Germany, earaches, frostbite, eczema and other external conditions. Mullein contains glycyrrhizin compounds with bactericide and potential anti-tumoral action that are concentrated in the flowers.
COMMON USES
Preparations of the plant have been ingested, applied topically and smoked.
Mullein is an anodyne that is said to relieve pain, including headaches and migraines. It is slightly sedative and is said to promote a sound sleep and ease nervous tension.
As a demulcent, Mullein soothes mucous membranes, lubricates tissues, and promotes healing. This mucilaginous effect also helps to ease gastronomic distress.
Mullein is considered an antispasmodic and helps to relieve stomach cramps.
The presence of tannins in Mullein helps to treat diarrhea by reducing inflammation in the intestine and is an old-time remedy for dysentery. (However, in large doses, Mullein acts as a laxative.)
Mullein is said to show strong overall anti-inflammatory activity and has been said to be effective in treating swellings, especially when lymph nodes in the throat, neck, arms, and groin swell or are congested. It has a reputation for cleansing the lymphatic system generally, and it is also used to relieve swollen joints.
Mullein is an astringent, antibacterial, and antiseptic, making it effective for urinary tract infection (particularly the deep taproot), as well as a fine mouthwash for sore throat. When harvesting, be sure to use a spade and dig when the soil contains some moisture.
Externally, Mullein Flower is used to treat wounds, calm the pain and inflammation of hemorrhoids, soften the skin, and reduce the inflammation and pain of insect bites, earaches and bruises. The leaves make a fine drawing salve (boiled in hot wine) for thorns and splinters.
The plant was also used to make dyes (yellow and green from flowers), and torches were made from the stalks. Leaves were put into shoes as added insulation.
Finally, mullein is a wonderful indicator of a soil's contamination level. When looking for wild mullein, only harvest from straight, vigorous stalks. The crooked stalks indicate a high level of chemical contamination in the soil.
DOSAGE:
A tea of mullein is made by pouring 1 cup (250 ml) of boiling water over 1-2 teaspoons (5-10 grams) of dried leaves or flowers and steeping for ten to fifteen minutes. The tea can be drunk three to four times per day. For the tincture, 1/4-3/4 teaspoon (1-4 ml) is taken three to four times per day. As a dried product, 1/2-3/4 teaspoon (3-4 grams) is used three times per day. Mullein is sometimes combined with other demulcent or expectorant herbs when used to treat coughs and bronchial irritation.
CULTIVATION / GROWING / HARVESTING
A person doesn’t usually need to grow Mullein in their gardens as it can be found easily along roadsides and in fields - just be sure they’re strong straight stalks to avoid contamination. They are easily enough grown should you wish. I don’t grow any myself, but have a friend that has huge fields (full time farmer), and he calls me when he’s tilling in the fall and comes across a strong stand of Mullein - then all I have to do is go cut it down, hang it to dry, then get it stored.
Mullein prefers full to partial sun, with dry soil. Seeds germinate in spring and summer. Mullein is a biennial and generally requires winter dormancy before it can flower. After flowering the entire plant usually dies at the end of its second year. While it can also grow in areas where some vegetation already exists, growth of the rosettes on bare soil is four to seven times more rapid
Its small yellow flowers are densely grouped on a tall stem, which bolts from a large rosette of leaves. It grows in a wide variety of habitats, but prefers well-lit disturbed soils, where it can appear soon after the ground receives light, from long-lived seeds that persist in the soil seed bank. It’s considered a common weed, and spreads by prolifically producing seeds, but rarely becomes aggressively invasive, since its seed require open ground to germinate and don’t fall far from the plant. It is not a very competitive species, being intolerant of shade from other plants and unable to survive tilling.
The first year the plant remains short, with the stalk growing dramatically in the second year producing beautiful yellow flowers. The leaves can be harvested daily, the first and second year as they open. The flowers are harvested daily in the second year, as they open - a given flower is open only for a single day, opening before dawn and closing in the afternoon.. The root is also harvested in the fall of the second year, once the plant has quit flowering. Some believe the root energy to be strongest in the fall of the first year, but then you’d miss out on a full year of leaves and flowers - me, I wait till the second year when the plant has completed its’ cycle.
MAGICAL / MYTHICAL USES
And of course we have to have the fun of the old magical lures of Mullein! Some people used to keep a packet of Mullein leaves under the pillow to prevent nightmares. Others would wear the leaves in their shoes or bathe for 5 days in Mullein tea to engender courage and drive away enemies and wild animals. Mullein leaf powder mixed with graveyard dirt appears in a few old recipes for Goofer Dust (to mess up, jinx, or trouble an enemy). When burned Mullein smoke is said to be powerful in spells against enemies. Some folks claim it will even assist in the summoning of demonic spirits - uck, who wants to do that?????
WARNINGS
The plant has not been associated with toxicity. No adverse effects have been reported from the use of Mullein or its extracts.
My favorite herb supplier –> Richters Herb Specialists - http://www.richters.com/
Ah yes... and the legal disclaimer - don’t you hate these things? —> The information contained in this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. <– ok, that’s done, hope you find this article useful!!
- Richters Herb - My favorite source for getting herb plants, seeds, or dried product if
it's something I can't grow. The quality of their plants and how they mail them is the best I've ever received. Wonderful source for rare seeds. Being that
I'll be working on so many pages to encourage you to grow and use your own herbs, I thought it very important to include a link to how you can find these
herb - plants, seeds, and dried product.
Herbal link page
Ah yes... and the legal disclaimer - don’t you hate these things? —> The information contained in this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. <– ok, that’s done, hope you find this article useful!!
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