Mullien and Teasel

     I never saw so many flowering teasel plants along rural roadsides as I have during the latter part of July of this year.  I saw many patches of teasel here and there for several miles as I drove along.  And common mulliens were among some clumps of teasel, but not as abundantly.
     I began to think about the characteristics teasel and common mullien have in common.  Both these tall kinds of plants are common in pastures, abandoned fields and roadsides all over eastern North America.  And though aliens from Europe and considered to be weeds by most people, both are here to stay.
     Teasel and mullien stalks were used by Europeans during medieval times.  Teasels have hard and spiny flower heads and stems and were used to tease out wool.  Dead and dry common mullien stalks have holes where the flowers and seeds formed.  But when the seeds fall out to the ground, those holes are filled only with air.  The dead, holey mullien stalks in medieval Europe were dipped in liquid animal fat, which soaked into, and hardened in, the cavities and the dried stems themselves.  Later they were lit as torches to be used at night.            
     Both these plants have two-year life cycles.  During the first year of its life, each plant develops several leaves only in a circle close to the ground.  But during its second year, each plant grows flower stalks, and blossoms that are pollinated by insects.  And when the seeds of each kind are mature and fall to the ground, both types of vegetation die, leaving dead, upright stalks that are picturesque in winter snow.
     Several autumns ago I brought a handful of dead teasel flower heads and their stems home for an indoor dried arrangement.  Not thinking, I dragged those teasel stems across our lawn to the house.  And, sure enough, young teasel plants grew the next spring in our yard.  But I was not concerned.  I just mowed the grass each week as I always had done, which included mowing off the flower stalks of teasel during the second summer.  Those plants died without producing seeds, leaving no descendants on our lawn.     
     Teasels have small, pale-lavender flowers in their bristly seed heads.  Blossoms in the middle of each attractive flower head bloom first while flowers on the top and bottom of each head bloom last.  The blossoms between the middle and the ends bloom in succession from the middle out to each end, an unusual way for any plant to bloom.
     Common mulliens have numerous and cheerful yellow blossoms all along the upper half of their flower stalks.  And this kind of mullien has one, two or three picturesque spikes of pretty blooms during their second year. 
     Insects visit the flowers of both plants to sip their nectar, pollinating them in the process.  The insects get food, mice and seed-eating birds consume the resulting seeds during fall and winter, and the vegetation reproduces themselves from seeds that were not ingested.
     Teasel and common mulliens have several traits they share, making them the more interesting to us.  They also produce food for a variety of small wildlife.  And they beautify many country roadsides with their lovely flowers.  Look for them when visiting farmland and other rural areas.