Verbascum Levanticum

Verbascum levanticum is an eastern Mediterranean mullein with a basal rosette of dark green, lyrate and softly hairy leaves. Upright green or purple-flushed stems branch above the rosette and carry numerous yellow, saucer-shaped flowers through summer. Its open structure gives the plant a lighter character than the densely woolly great mulleins, while the flowers provide pollen for bees and other insects. Adapted to dry open ground in the Levant, it thrives in full sun, lean alkaline soil and sharp drainage and can renew itself naturally from seed.