Family: Scrophulariaceae

Status:

Description:
Both erect annual or biennial herbs, up to about 1m high, which are usually single stemmed or occasionally branched after the growing tip has been damaged. Leaves are clustered in an erect basal rosette, from which a tall flowering stem arises. Giant mullein leaves are densely covered in long hairs, making them grey green. Twiggy mullein leaves are hairless and green. Flowers of both are large and yellow. Seeds are very fine, black and produced in a papery capsule.

Preferred habitat and impacts:
Both weeds of drier pasture, which fluctuate in numbers depending on seasonal conditions. Giant mullein in particular is much more common in dry seasons. On the tablelands, where it is abundant it can come to dominate degraded pasture, greatly reducing carrying capacity. Each rosette of leaves can suppress quite a large area of grass.

Dispersal:
Very fine seed is spread in wind and along roadsides in contaminated soil.

Look-alikes
None.

Control
Chip out prior to seeding. Be sure to take the growing crown out, or the plant will re-sprout.