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Shiro TSUYUZAKI
Plant community ecology / Environmental conservation

Mount Usu / Sarobetsu post-mined peatland
From left: Crater basin in 1986 and 2006. Cottongrass / Daylily

(First update on Sept. 3 2009. Last on July 30 2010)

Common mullein
Verbascum thapsus L. [Scrophulariaceae]

Biroudomouzuika (ビロードモウズイカ, 天鵞絨毛蕊花)

Lifeform: weedy biennial forb up to 2 m high
Distribution: Native to Europe, northern Africa and Asia (exotic to Japan)
Habitat: disturbed sites, e.g., roadside
Seedbank: long-term persistent

Variety

- subsp. thapsus: type, widespread
- subsp. crassifolium (Lam.) Murb.: mainly Mediterranean
- subsp. giganteum (Willk.) Nyman: Spain (endemic)


Verbascum L. (モウズイカ) in Japan

All species are exotic to Japan.

V. blattaria L. (モウズイカ)

- f. erubescens Brugger (シロバナモウズイカ)

V. nigrum L. (クロモウズイカ)
V. thapsus L. (ビロードモウズイカ)
V. virgatum Stokes (アレチモウズイカ)


Verbascum thapsus in Hokkaido

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[Left] a rosette in the north campus of HU on August 31 2009. [Center] a erect shoot with flowers. [Right] close-up. [C/R] At Usu Memorial Park on the foot of Mount Kompira on Sept. 9 2009.

ST ST ST
[Left] close-up of flowwers. [Center] close-up of inflorescences. [Right] an individual. At N14/E4, Norht Ward, Sapporo, on June 29 2010.


References