A simple caffeine-free tea that was once thought to have power over witches, evil spirits and other occult creatures is currently vanquishing coughs, colds and sore throats. Nearly 2,000 years ago ...

Mullein is too good a plant to be called a weed. Instead, call it by one of its 40 nicknames, such as Adam’s flannel, candlewick, hare’s beard, velvet plant, feltwort, or lungwort. If you are not ...

With air pollution on the rise, respiratory problems, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have become quite common. This is because the lungs are the primary organs for breathing ...

So what did they do before the Sears Catalog hung in every outhouse in America? Supplying the "necessary" isn't talked about much, but there is botany at the very heart of this certain small ...

The plant: Like lamb’s ear, the large, velvety leaves of mullein invite you to give them a rub. Because of its textured leaves, mullein is also called old man’s flannel, velvet dock, bunny’s ears and ...

– Biennial plant that produces a rosette of large, thick, fuzzy leaves the first year and a single stout erect stem 2-feet tall to 6-feet tall the second year. – Leaves are light green and very wooly.

Roman legionnaires used mullein as a torch. They dipped the tall, spear-shaped flower stalks in tallow to light their billets. The thick down of Torch Weed is still used to make candle wicks in parts ...

I now know you can’t judge a book by its cover. I almost managed to overlook my review copy of “Backyard Medicine”by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal (Skyhorse Publishing, 2009); however, one ...

Look along roadsides or any disturbed areas with some open ground, and you are likely to see common mullein, blooming huge spikes of cheery yellow flowers. We have some growing in the bare patches ...

One sure sign of midsummer is the popping up of tall spikes along highways, byways, fields and farmlands. For some reason, maybe it's because they have no equivalent of similar stature, I always ...