• Editor’s Note: “Roadside Botany” is a snapshot look at the amazing plant life that can be found in Kane County, IL, with photography and text by Valerie Blaine, nature programs manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. You can reach her at blainevalerie@kaneforest.com.
  

A saguaro cactus in Kane County? Sure looks like it in silhouette, but look again. This is common mullein, a Eurasian plant that has made its way all over the continent of North America, and is quite at home in Kane County. The flowering stalks shoot up from a base of fuzzy green leaves, often taking on a cactus-like persona.

The flower stalks of this mullein plant rise, cactus-like, from a field at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve. Photos by Valerie Blaine.

Although often scorned as a weed, common mullein is a multi-talented plant. Its historic uses explain its popularity — and why the plant was carried across North America with European-American settlers.

Mullein came to North America in the early 18^th century, likely brought intentionally as a medicinal plant. According the U.S. Forest Service plant database, “common mullein was said to be used to treat respiratory disorders such as asthma, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and pneumonia; to combat tumor formation; and to treat urinary tract infections and skin diseases. Hemorrhoids, diarrhea, warts, migraines, frost bite, and ringworm were also treated with common mullein. In Europe, concoctions of common mullein leaves and roots were used to treat many respiratory and alimentary conditions.”

Common mullein flowers are borne on a long stalk during the second year of the plant’s growth. They’re rich yellow in color, and attract numerous pollinators.

Mullein caught on as a medicinal, and it became part of the pharmacy of Native Americans by the 19^th century. (So much so, that some European immigrants thought mullein was native to North America.) In the Southwest, the leaves were used in an herb mixture to treat mental illness. Potawatomis and other indigenous groups also used smoked, dried mullein leaves to treat colds, bronchitis and asthma. In some parts of the country, the roots were boiled and made into a cough syrup.

Mullein seeds, when crushed and put in water, are toxic to fish. Europeans put this property to use in harvesting fish, and European settlers no doubt brought this method with them to America. “Fish ‘stings,’ were an easy method of food collection and often turned into community events,” reports the USFS plant database website.

The list of useful properties of common mullein goes on and on — including its use as “blush” (a.k.a. “rouge”) in the pre-CoverGirl make-up days. Rub the fuzzy leaves on your cheeks and you’ll have a nice rosy glow. Or, a dermatological reaction. In Rome, it is said, the long flower stalks were dipped in tallow and used as torches.

When you see these tall, cactus imposters along the side of the road, take another look. Weeds? Yes. Cool? Definitely!

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