Verbascum thapsus Health Dictionary

  1. Health Encyclopedia
  2. Verbascum Thapsus

Verbascum Thapsus: From 1 Different Sources

Linn.

Synonym: V. phlomoides L.

Family: Scrophulariaceae.

Habitat: Temperate Himalayas, Western Ghats and the Nilgiris.

English: Cow's Lungwort, Common Mullein. (Large-flowered Mullein is equated with V. densiflorum Bertol.)

Ayurvedic: Ban Tambaaku, Gidar Tambaaku, Phullaa.

Action: Herb—soothing and relaxant for irritable respiratory conditions (asthma, emphysema, tracheitis), pectoral demulcent, antispasmodic, mild sedative.

Key application: In catarrh of the respiratory tract. (German Commission E.)

The capsule contains saponins, thap- suines A and B and hydroxythap- suines A and B. The plant also contains varatric acid, 5-ethoxymethyl furfural, saikogenin, alpha-spinasterol and iri- doids, aucubin and catalpol. The leaves contain rotenone.

The flower extract showed activity against influenza and herpes simplex virus.

The plant has been employed for the treatment of asthma. There is little evidence to indicate that the plant can offer more than mild astringent and topical soothing effects.
Health Source: Indian Medicinal Plants
Author: Health Dictionary

Mullein

Verbascum thapsus. N.O. Scrophulariaceae.

Synonym: Great Mullein, Blanket Herb, or Candle Flower.

Habitat: Flourishes in sandy and gravelly waste ground, and is sometimes noticed under garden cultivation.

Features ? Reaching a height of four feet, the thick, erect, un-branched stem is

heavily coated with hairs. The large, flannel-like leaves are lanceolate-oblong below, the upper ones becoming decurrent, smaller, and more ovate in shape. Characteristic of the plant, leaves narrow at the base into two wings which pass down the stem, this feature enabling the medicinal Mullein to be distinguished from Verbascum nigrum and various other Mulleins. The flowers, which bloom in July and August, are built of five golden-yellow, rounded petals, and are densely packed on a woolly spike some foot or more in length.

Part used ? Leaves and flowers.

Action: Demulcent, pectoral and astringent.

A medicine is made by infusing 1 ounce in 1 pint of boiling water, the usual dose being a wineglassful, taken frequently. This is recommended mainly for chest coughs and certain other pulmonary complaints. Mullein has been considered a pile cure for several hundred years, and is still used for this purpose both internally and as a fomentation.

Culpeper preferred the root to the leaves and flowers, and advised it to be taken in wine. He tells us that this "is commended by Dioscorides against lasks and fluxes of the belly."... mullein

Health encyclopedia icon Health Encyclopedia

Recent Searches