Other - Verbascum blattaria (White Moth Mullein)

[BigB-Baby]

Alright so there are maybe two threads on the Internet concerning this plant. SWIM recently ordered two plants from his favorite vendor, that claimed, "Moth Mullein is currently being investigated for its applications in relieving pain, anxiety, restlessness, and insomnia." He ordered it after reading a couple post from Meangreen on one of the two threads he found

I haven't long been a member of this forum but most of you should realize by now that I am not some kind of joker. I am not one to attempt a hoax and I don't like people who do such things. What you are about to read is the truth as I perceive it. Everyone is different and every plant of the same species has differing concentrations of chemicals (i.e. varying potency). That said, you NEED to read further.

There is a plant called "moth mullein". Its scientific name is Verbascum blattaria. The particular plant that I have experienced is Verbascum blattaria v. erubescens. It is the white-flowered version of moth mullein (which is generally yellow-flowered). You should be able to find quite a bit of info on the net if you search using the info that I just gave you. Where some of you live, this may be a common plant. It is present but not extremely common here in WV. I found my plant growing through a bed of gravel in an unkempt parking lot behind the crisis unit where I work. It was the only plant of its type in the vacinity (searching for more plants in the immediate area was fruitless). I don't have a digital camera so I don't have pics of this particular plant. I will post pictures of this species (pics from the net) immediately following this post. I will also post pictures of the more common yellow version. Just so you know, I am not talking about "common mullein" which is of the same genus but is a diferent species and looks nothing like the plant in question. If you research "common mullein", you will find that it was sometimes traditionally smoked in order to alleviate bronchial problems. Some sites say that it has a sedative effect but further psychoactivity is not associated with this plant. Again, I am NOT talking about "common mullein" in this post but "moth mullein". I have never experienced "common mullein" and am unaware of its effects. Now for the interesting stuff...

I noticed this unusual plant behind where I work. What made me interested in this plant was that there are tiny hairs all over it with beads of resin attached to the hairs. The look (of the hairs/resin) was similar to another famous herb that we all know and love. This peaked my interest and I picked off some plant-tops (small concentrated leaves at the top of the flowering stalks--looked a lot like small buds from the other famous herb). I crushed some of the larger leaves at the plant's base and noticed a musky odor that was not unpleasant. This further interested me. I searched online wildflower databases for a couple days in order to identify the plant. After successfully identifying the plant and searching for it at wikipedia, I learned that some mulleins are the "active ingredient in many alternative smoking blends". I reseached smoking mullein on the net and found info on smoking "common mullein" but no info on moth mullein. The info that I found on smoking "common mullein" pretty much consisted of its use as a bronchiodialator and a quit-smoking aid. No psychoactive effects beyond sedation were mentioned for "common mullein". Out of curiousity, I decided to smoke the plants tops of the moth mullein that I had picked earlier.

The plant tops were only about half dry and amounted to approx. 1/2 gram of weight. I put them in my trusty pipe and puffed away noticing the interesting and somewhat pleasant flavor of the smoke. Mild effects were felt within a couple of minutes and they intensified to a low-grade buzz similar to our favorite herb. [I just want to mention right here and now that, like you, I am tired of people who claim that certain various legal substances provide a "*edit*-like buzz". So when I say that the buzz that I got from the moth mullein was similar, I say that with actual sincerity--in other words, the feeling was almost indistinguishable from *edit*] As I sat in my office and experienced the buzz that the plant provided, I actually forgot that I hadn't smoked *edit*. I even laughed loudly once as I remembered that I had not smoked *edit*. My interest was definitely high after this experience. I immediately picked some more plant tops and some larger leaves from the bottom of the plant as well as some flowers and flower buds. I took them home to experiment further which is when things got very interesting.

At home, I did not dry the plant material (just out of impatience). I packed a full (standard-sized) bowl of small leaves, plant tops, a flower and a couple small flower buds. All this material had small resinous hairs. I smoked the entire bowl with only a little difficulty despite the wetness of the material. The flavor was interesting and not so bad. I'm sure that properly curing the material would have improved the flavor greatly. By the end of the bowl I was extremely stoned. Yes, you read that correctly. I was EXTREMELY stoned. I did not get a "mild *edit*-like buzz". I got smizashed. The feeling was very similar to *edit* and again, I forgot that I hadn't smoked *edit*. There were some differences though. First, motor coordination was effected with this new substance which rarely happens with *edit*. Secondly, my joints felt "floppy" and loose--very relaxed, in other words. Third, the "zone out" factor was higher with this new plant than with *edit*. I remember staring for a long time at the wall and finding it very interesting. Also, there is a slight visual enhancement with this new plant that isn't there with *edit*. There were no tracers or neon-colored outlines like you might find with stronger substances but there was a "trippy" character to my vision with colors and shades appearing more vibrant than usual.

The stongest effects lasted for an hour or so. I felt kind of hung over for a couple of hours afterward. I should also note that it made my eyes red as with *edit*. You could say that this could have been due to some *edit* resin in the pipe but really I keep my smoking implement very clean and resin-free.

Here is a little "preliminary" FAQ that will probably answer some questions for you.

Q: Why did you post this with such urgency?
A: It's because there are people out there who are smoking all sorts of things like wild dagga and the such in order to attain some kind of "mild *edit*-like buzz" when there is this plant which seems to provide an experience that is on par with *edit*. Also, I think it is important to bring this new plant to light because i could not find any info on the psychoactivity of this plant.

Yesterday afternoon, I smoked more moth mullein. This time the plant material was chopped up and air-dried. It dried very quickly (over night) probably because I chopped it up with scissors before hand. The plant material that I dried out consisted of almost every part of the plant--a small amount of stem, larger base leaves, smaller stem leaves, flower buds, a plant top, and some wilted flowers. The dried, chopped material was blended together (more or less homogenous). I smoked 2 grams (approx) and achieved a lighter stoning than before. My friend smoked 2 grams as well and achieved the same effect. Effects lasted about 1/2 hour and were completely gone. This time, I would (quite unfortunately) have to classify the effects as--you guessed it--a "mild *edit*-like buzz".

Preliminary evidence indicates that the plant tops are the most potent part of the plant (fitting because they look pretty similar to fresh *edit*) and also, dried material may lose potency. Read further to see why I say this.

This morning I smoked a fully packed bowl of fresh (non-dried) plant tops only. This time, I got pretty damn stoned again. I tried my best to remember the experience so I could report it to you. With this substance, it is easiest to compare it to *edit* because the experience is very similar. The effects started a few minutes into the bowl (you would call it creeper if it were *edit*). It starts out mild, feeling very similar to *edit*, including slight feeling of comfortable pressure on face (I get this to a greater extent with *edit*). Effects build to a heavy stoned feeling with mental stimulation (a little less than *edit*) and a loose and heavy feeling of the body. Moving around is easy but coordination is affected more so than with *edit*. Heart rate seems unchanged. Blood pressure seems unchanged. Everyday things seem funny as with *edit*. Visual disturbances are largely absent at this dosage but colors and shades appear deeper and more significant. I remember staring in awe at items around the room as the light changed through the window as clouds passed over the sun. This gave a really cool effect and seemed much more interesting than usual. I doubt that I would have even noticed it if I hadn't puffed the moth mullein. I should note that the effects still built even after I finished the bowl which, again, is similar to "creeper". The strongest effects lasted for approx. one hour and started to fade after that. I took a nap and had no trouble falling asleep but then again, I noted no sedative effect either. I woke up about an hour and fifteen minutes later feeling VERY groggy. I definitely felt hung over but a few cups of coffee fixed that problem. After the coffee, I felt more or less normal. Right now is several hours later and I can tell you for sure that I no longer feel any effects.

On an interesting note, I noticed that moth mullein leaves black resin (almost identical to you-know-what) in my pipe. I will let it build up a bit and try to remove and smoke it as per *edit* resin. Just curious.

In reply to earlier posts:

1. I keep my pipe extremely clean. If you extracted EVERY BIT of *edit* resin out of my pipe with ethyl alcohol, you could not get stoned on it. I haven't had any *edit* for damn near a month now (thanks to mandatory urinalysis at work) and have long since cleaned my pipe using acetone. I suppose that traces of *edit* resin remain but it is unlikely that it would have a perceivable effect.

2. Moth mullein does not have hairy leaves like common mullein but the stem, flower buds, seed pods and plant tops have little hairs (trichomes) with beads of resin or mucilage or SOMETHING attached to them. Rain does NOT wash the droplets off according to my observation. The plant matter is not as sticky as you would think that it would be considering how much "resin" is present. It is slightly sticky, however. The "resin" has an interesting feel to it--kind of cool and slippery (but not slimy). Find a moth mullein plant and you will see what I mean. It doesn't feel like *edit* even though it looks like it should. The active principles may not even be in the "resin" for all I know.

3. I thank everyone for urging me to do extractions but until I find more plants, I simply can not do this. I only know of one plant and it's already looking a bit torn up thanks to me plucking some of its parts off. I refuse to kill this plant because it's the only one that I know of. I've been looking for more plants (fruitlessly so far). According to my research, these plants grow on disturbed soil, often through gravel (which is where I found my plant) where they don't have to compete with ground-covering plants. It is conceivable that they would grow in the same places as common mullein (a much more visible plant) and when I see a common mullein, I look for moth mullein in the surrounding area. This has been fruitless so far but seems as good a strategy as any. When the seed pods mature on my plant, I will attempt to grow some. Just wish me luck on that!

Does anyone have any experience with this plant? Is anyone willing to explore this plant as well? A simple google search of Verbascum blattaria (White Moth Mullein) turns up only wild plant informational sites, a vendor, and the few forums on it. When SWIM's plants arrive he will post growing report, flowering info, and experience report. Also anyone with experience with this plant or other plants related that can give advice on growing would be greatly appreciated.