Is this Dark Mullein?

[Dan Salter]

Hi folks...

I spotted this high up on a roadside bank on the lane to our house..straight away i could see it wasnt the normal "Great Mullein"....the pic in "rose" isnt very good but i was wondering if this was the native Dark Mullein? or a garden escapee of the figwort family? ( excuse poor pics just snaps for id')






also whats going on here?...caught my eye but im now thinking i didnt look close enough or is this really a flowering clover? ha ha

[aeshna5]

Looks like Dark Mullein, Verbascum nigrum.

Second plant isn't a clover but a wood sorrel, Oxalis species. The flowers do look like our native one, O.acetosella, but this is a spring flowerer, so if this is a recent photo it's flowering at a strange time of year, but we're having such weird weather. At a previous garden there was another white flowered species, which I never found the identity to! Quite a few alien species of Oxalis are naturalised, mostly with pink or yellow flowers.

[Tiggrx]

The second is Pale Pink-sorrel (Oxalis incarnata) - a native of South Africa, it is quite well naturalised in some parts of the UK.

[Jez]

Haha yes i have picked you some seed of dark Mullein.You Beauty! Look out for Mullein Caterpillers on this one

[Dan Salter]

Excellent thanks Jez..

And thanks Tiggerx....hmmm so pale pink sorrel eh?...im not going to argue...although i did think it was white when i saw it...i was reading up on wood sorrel today and your right...the fact its now august means it should not be flowering? but i guess this south african version may be different?..i took the pic days ago you see.

[Jez]

Yer i'm not going to let you forget it, what ever it was that i collected when it happened back in 60 thingy dubery i'm sure it was something or other!

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by Jez

Yer i'm not going to let you forget it, what ever it was that i collected when it happened back in 60 thingy dubery i'm sure it was something or other!

What an earth are you on about?....im confused.

[Pete Collins]

Going back to the original topic, I've seen quite a bit of Dark Mullein recently in my area. There's been a lot of it growing at Whipsnade Heath, half a mile from my home, and a little further away I saw some on Dunstable Downs the other day (along with some Great Mullein). There was some more at Pulpit Hill near Great Kimble, in Bucks., and also at the College Lake reserve (again in Bucks) - here there was a lot next to the entrance that was presumably deliberately planted, but I've seen it elswhere on the reserve. In fact I think I've seen Dark Mullein more often than Great Mullein recently.