Plantains, Figworts, Foxglove and Speedwells 251In so far as great mullein has had
additional, minor uses, the records
are again Irish almost wholly. In
unspecified parts of Ulster a decoc-
tion has been taken for diarrhoea and,
mixed with other herbs, for cramp and for liver
and kidney ailments, while a leaf roasted be-
tween dock leaves and moistened with spittle
has been a treatment for boils.^97 The leaves have
also predictably found favour as a poultice: in
parts of Ireland for ‘running sores’,^98 in Meath
for bee stings^99 and in Westmeath for
goitre.^100 In Kerry,though, it was the
water in which the plant had been boiled
that was rubbed into the body to ease
doctor-resistant ‘pains’ (a word
most often denoting rheuma-
tism in the rural areas of Ire-
land).^101
Verbascum lychnitis
Linnaeus
white mullein
southern half of Europe,
western Siberia,
Morocco;intro-
duced into North
America
(Name confusion suspected) If the
plant known under the name ‘white mul-
lein’ in Wiltshire is correctly taken to be
Verbascum lychnitis,its juice has been
used there as a wart cure.^102 However,
there are no certain botanical records
for it from that county and perhaps the
white leaves ofV.thapsus have made
that ‘white mullein’ locally.
Verbascum thapsus, great mullein
(Fuchs 1543, fig. 485)