Biennial herbaceous tomentose plant. Root taproot, slightly branched. Stem erect, unbranched, up to 2 m tall. The leaves are simple, alternate, decurrent, oblong. The basal rosette, formed in the first year of plant growth, consists of oblong-lanceolate petiolate leaves. The flowers of the stem are regular, five-membered, yellow. The calyx is five-parted; corolla tubular with five-lobed limb, five stamens, free, three of them upper ones are shorter, woolly; pistil with upper ovary and spatulate descending stigma. The inflorescence is a dense apical raceme. The fruit is an obovate, densely pubescent capsule. Blooms from June to August, seeds ripen in August-October.
It grows in the forest and steppe zones of the European part of Russia, in the Urals, the Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia in open places, mainly on sandy soil, in upland, dry, forest and steppe meadows, on rocky and sandy slopes, river cliffs, in within the roads.
For medicinal purposes, easily detachable corollas are used, collected at the beginning of flowering. Corollas of flowers are harvested only in dry, clear weather. It is recommended to dry the collected whisks quickly in a dark place (in closed attics or in dryers). The smell is aromatic, honey, the taste is sweet. Well-dried beaters can be pressed tightly and stored in boxes. During harvesting, it is not necessary to pick up fallen corollas and flowers that have not yet unfolded (“pins”) from the ground.
In addition to the corollas of flowers, the tops (grass) and seeds of mullein are used for medicinal purposes, they prefer darker tones of the color of mullein. Dried leaves are stocked at the same time as flowers. Leaves ready for storage look no worse than fresh ones – the same greenish-gray and felty. They do not have a smell, they taste mucous, slightly bitter.
In scientific medicine, an infusion of mullein corollas (1:10) is used as an astringent, emollient and expectorant. It is prescribed for catarrh of the respiratory tract, bronchitis, cough, shortness of breath, and even for pulmonary tuberculosis.
In addition, dried flowers of the bear’s ear are included in a mixture of herbal products from which they prepare a breast tea that relieves some colds.
In folk medicine, it is successfully used more widely; for example, in diseases of the lungs and respiratory tract, accompanied by abundant sputum, as an enveloping and expectorant agent, in diseases of the throat, bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, colds, heart disease, nervous system disorders, in dysentery or spasmodic diarrhea (as an enveloping and analgesic), catarrh of the stomach (calms pain), diseases of the kidneys, liver, spleen, jaundice, exhaustion, internal or so-called closed hemorrhoids; with diathesis, they bathe babies and give them a drink, bathe babies who are not gaining weight well; a decoction of the herb is given to children with epilepsy, they drink it for headaches, women’s and venereal diseases. Outwardly, lotions are made on wounds, and an ointment prepared from the powder of mullein seeds, used for putrid wounds or ulcers. It is better to use a decoction for the treatment of skin diseases at the same time and inside.
Flowering leafy tops of mullein, collected in the initial period of flowering, are used as an analgesic, antispasmodic agent for hypertension, atherosclerosis and inflammation of the respiratory organs.
Fresh mullein leaves boiled in milk are recommended to be used externally in the form of applications on the affected areas, as an analgesic for burns, felons and hemorrhoids.
Mullein root, finely sliced and dried, is an excellent diuretic, useful in kidney stones and gout. Prepared in the form of a decoction of the root, which will need to be taken in the morning on an empty stomach, in the afternoon between meals, 125-225 g per day. The whole plant in the form of a decoction is a remedy for worms in livestock.
Application
Decoction: 10 g per 200 ml in combination with the flowers of the forest mallow, or the forest mallow and the leaves of the coltsfoot equally – for gargling.
The powder from it is effective for cracked nipples in nursing mothers. They must first be moistened with carrot juice.
Decoction: 15 g of flowers, 20 g of leaves per 1 liter of boiling water as an anti-inflammatory, emollient, analgesic and mild laxative.
Infusion: 1 tbsp. a spoonful of dried mullein flowers is boiled for 10 minutes in a glass of water, cooled, filtered and drunk 1 tbsp. spoon 4-5 times every day or 5 g of flowers per 1 cup of boiling water, take warm 1/3-1/2 cup 2-3 times every day.
Black mullein is also used as a decoction for nervous disorders, epilepsy, and diarrhea. The flowers are drunk as tea for edema.
Infusion for catarrh of the stomach and intestines, diseases of the liver and spleen: 30 g of flowers per 1 liter of boiling water. Take 50 ml every hour.