Summer of 2021 - 2022 Mullein Project

Paddocks here in the Snowy Mountains are blanketed this summer with Verbascum Thapsus, also known as Great or Common Mullein. Some of the more interesting colloquial names include Candlewick, Devil’s Tobacco, Hag Taper, Velvet Plant and Shepherd’s Club but our favourite will always be Lamb’s Ears which we called them as kids.

Found beside roads and in disturbed soil, this hardy biennial has woolly looking leaves and a flowering yellow stem that can reach to 3m in height. Despite being an impressive looking plant, mullein is often considered to be an environmental weed, so our first project for 2022 has been experimenting with gentle extraction methods to release the therapeutic properties of these much-maligned beauties.

We first read about the benefits of mullein in Nicholas Culpeper’s 1653 Complete Herbal. This fascinating work contains comprehensive descriptions of medicinal properties and directions for compounding numerous British and foreign herbs. Whilst the book only mentions Verbascum Nigrum and Verbascum Lychnitis, we found many similarities to Verbascum Thapsus which grows prolifically here in the mountains.

According to Culpeper mullein is under the dominion of Saturn. Not ideal as this symbolises the Grim Reaper, but perhaps appropriate in the time of Covid. Saturn is also believed to signify rocks and mountains which we certainly have in abundance here on Box Ridge.

Ancient astrologers and philosophers classified Saturn as cold and dry, ruling the body parts and organs that may become unbalanced in cold weather. These include the spleen, teeth, bones, bladder, and ears. Interestingly one of the most common mullein preparations is used for earache and infection.

With the mullein flowering, and Saturn sitting low in the Southern Sky before moving towards twilight in mid-January, it seems an auspicious time to begin our trials. We’ll document our progress, failures and results over the coming weeks and would love to receive your feedback, or comments.

DAY 1

Following our policy to only collect plant material we can sustainably hand harvest, we set about gathering leaves and flowers.

From Owen’s diary ….. “Collected about 15kg of young leaf material from new growth at the top of the plants in our shed yard. Loaded this into the still along with 15 litres of rainwater and commenced heating to start the distillation. With some leaf material immersed in water this was a hydro/steam distillation.

After about 90 minutes of collecting distillate, it was determined material in the still was not going to produce oil, and as such I stopped the distillation.”

DAY 2

“The still had cooled down overnight, so leaf material was removed.

The residual light-yellow liquid was decanted and stored for future use by our local artist friend to use in her eco dying practice. This liquid should result in a yellow colour when mordanted with Alum, (Potassium Aluminium Sulphate).”

Identified two plants with purple centred flowers – more research needed!

DAY 5

Invited by a friend with acreage at Carinya to help ourselves to as much mullein as we can carry, and by mid-morning had collected several bags full, along with numerous grass seeds in pants and places they shouldn’t be.

After zero oil yield from the leaf distillation yesterday, we’re harvesting flowers only today in the hope they may give better results.

From Owen’s diary ….. “Visited a friend with acres of mullein and hand collected about 25kg of flowering tops. These were put into the still and subjected to a hydro/steam distillation. Again, no apparent oil was extracted after 90 minutes of distillation. The still was allowed to cool overnight.”

DAY 6

“Opened the still this morning and removed the ‘cooked’ flowering tops. Residual liquid this time was a very dark colour, resembling a tannin and obviously rich in what had effectively been leached after boiling the flower tops.

This liquid was filtered through an acid free paper filter, then reduced by 50 percent in weight by slow evaporation. 16% pure vegetable glycerine was then added to effectively create a decoction, then bottled into amber glass and allowed to cool.

I had a small area of Atopic Dermatitis on my right leg, which was itchy, lumpy, and inflamed. Using my finger, I took a couple of drops of the mullein/glycerine decoction and rubbed them into the itch spot. There was almost immediate relief, and the itchy sensation disappeared within 2 to 3 minutes. The inflammation also disappeared within 15 - 20 minutes, and neither have returned after 6 hours. The skin I applied the mullein liquid to looks and feels normal, and possibly hydrated due to the humectant properties of the glycerine. I will continue to use this liquid for any dermal inflammation in the future and provide an update.

When the rain eases, I plan to pick the flowers and young leaves from our backyard crop and macerate them with at least two different neutral oils to perform an oil extraction, with the aim of creating what is described as Mullein Oil. Unfortunately, I find this method of processing worrying as I have no means of determining the activity, or strength of the mullein component, other than by the weight ratio of the flowers/leaves/oil. However, based on efficacy of the water extract I hope that the oil extract will be as impressive.”

DAY 7

Heavy rain overnight and it was mid-morning before the weather cleared sufficiently for us to harvest petals and leaves from the home field. There’s been amazing growth this year with plenty of flowers for the bees. It’s pretty good to see them heavily laden with pollen after the loss of so many during the bushfires.

From Owen’s diary … “In the home field picking fresh flowers is a slow process. There are usually only three or four mature flower heads per plant per day.

We picked a mixture of young and mature leaves, as the recommended blend of plant material is 50:50 leaf and flower. Have spread 600ml of flowers and 600ml of leaves on absorbent paper to dry at room temperature for 24 hours.”

DAY 8

“Back in the home field ‘Tiptoeing through the Mullein’ and picking the newly opened flowers and more leaf. A friendly battle is taking place between two types of native bees for possession of the flowers. We always leave plenty of heads for them.

The contrast between the bee’s colour and the pollen they are carrying on their legs is amazing. Whilst picking the plant material is time consuming and labour intensive, it is pleasant and relatively easy as many of the plant heads are at waist or greater height, meaning we’re not bending down all the time.

Worth noting is the ground this plant material is being recovered from has never seen herbicide, pesticide or insecticide applied to it, nor has it carried stock, been ploughed or fertilised.

We slow dried yesterday’s flowers in the wood fired oven, which reduced their volume by 50%, down to 300ml. My thinking at this stage is to make three macerated blends: one with olive oil, one with sweet almond oil and one using glycerine as herbal glycerite.

After refining them by removal of the solids, they may be effective as roll-ons for localised topical use. Further thoughts on specific uses to follow, but the sweet almond oil blend should make a great massage oil. The oils and glycerine we use are certified organic vegetable and food grade safe.”

DAY 9

From Owen’s diary ….. “The battle for possession between myself and the native bees continues. They win!

Collected more flowers and leaf, about a third of which has been oven dried and the remainder kept fresh. The dried flowers from yesterday were divided in two: Half into a glass jar and covered in extra virgin organic Olive Oil, the other half put in a jar and covered with the same amount of Sweet Almond Oil.

A similar amount from today’s collection has been oven dried and put into warmed Coconut Oil. The remainder of today’s flowers were also divided equally, with one portion covered in Glycerine and water mix at a 75/25 ratio. The last lot of fresh flowers were covered in Pure Glycerine. All were then closed with lids and put into room temperature dark storage.

The glass jars of flowers will be stored for six weeks with occasional agitation. After six weeks they will be filtered and put into 15ml roll-on dispensers for ease of use.

So – we’ll see you again in six weeks time on 19th February with the next update, unless there are any significant developments before then.

I will continue to collect flower and leaf up until the end of the growing season, to be dried and stored for future use. We’re particularly interested in trying the leaf for personal use as a tea.”

1ST MARCH 2022

Wet weather, market stalls and trialling botanicals have caused a slight delay in updating our Mullein Project, so with apologies, this is where things stand on the first day of Autumn ….

We’re currently in the process of filtering the Mullein flowers in various infusions of olive oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, and two glycerine solutions. When filtering has concluded we’ll have five final products to use in a series of simple topical tests, where we hope to determine the effectiveness of each.

The difficulty in working with Mullein, is that we’ve been unable to find any previous studies to determine exactly what the active ingredient is. There are reports of efficacy in treating skin irritations, but no studies, or accounts detailing the elements, or components that might achieve these results.  

What we are sure of from first-hand experience, is that the distillation residue, or tannin, is very effective in treating itchy, localised skin irritations, and it will be interesting to see how effective these infusions are when used over time.

The Mullein Project will be an on-going, even open-ended project, and we look forward to bringing you further observations and results!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had some great opportunities to harvest and steam distil local Kunzea Ericoides (Tea Tree), Oregano (Wild Marjoram), Alpine Mint Bush and various types of Rosemary. There have been wide ranging results in terms of oil and hydrosol yield, from as little as 0.01% to 2.0%. It’s been a productive time, and not long to wait now until the annual distilling of Gran’s limes!

Our particular interest now is focusing on the Kunzea Ericoides oil and hydrosol, which is showing very promising results as an effective treatment of greasy heel on horses. It’s early days and we hope to detail the Kunzea Project more fully with individual project notes, third party reviews and a blog to follow. Thank you for joining us.

14TH MAY 2022

Well it’s been a hectic few weeks! Since putting down the Mullein flowers in various oils and glycerine, we’ve been to numerous markets in NSW and Victoria, including the Red Gum Festival in Cavendish, and Off Grid Living Festival in Eldorado. Both were great events, and we were invited to speak in the ‘Conversation Hub’ and run small batch, eucalyptus distilling workshop demonstrations to large groups of people at “Off Grid”.

We’ve been home for a couple of weeks now, and have finally returned to the Mullein extractions, which were infused in olive oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil and a mixture of glycerine and water. The reason for mixing the glycerine with water, is that pure glycerine is not effective at extracting any active material from the Mullein flowers. Water becomes the effective solvent in combination with glycerine as the carrier oil.

All the infusions have been vacuum filtered through a sintered glass filter, with the exception of the coconut oil, which is a solid below about 24ºC. This has been warmed and carefully decanted to separate the oil from the flower material, then allowed to return to solid form, to be used as an ointment.

We have no definitive means of determining how effective these infusions may be, other than general literature, so have prepared small samples for individual topical only use. The samples are complimentary, and we would really appreciate any observations on efficacy, and how you have used them. As we are not supplying placebos, it can’t be called a formal trial, but we’re hoping to gather feedback on which oil may be most effective for future Mullein infusions.

General literature we have found, some of which is very old mentions the following in reference to Mullein infusions:

Analgesic property of these oils has a numbing effect on the nerves. It does not let them sense pain to carry the sensation to the brain, thereby giving relief from headache, colds, sinusitis, and other conditions. It can be anti-inflammatory.

Antiseptic property of this oil may give protection to wounds. It assists by eliminating microbial growth in the affected area, and activates white blood cells and platelets in the region.

The oil has relaxing effects, providing relief from muscular cramps, nervous afflictions, and disturbances.

In all the literature we have read, there has been no mention of adverse reactions from Mullein infusions, however always patch test, or seek specialist advice from a qualified aroma therapist of physician before use.

Thanks very much for your interest, and we look forward to receiving your comments.