Mullein (verbascum thapsus) is a plant with soft leaves and yellow flowers on stalks. It grows wild in a variety of places, including along railroad tracks and disturbed urban areas. While you can use all parts of the mullein plant, smoking the leaves is one of its most effective uses. The smoke is very light and odorless, almost as thin as air, and virtually flavorless. This makes mullein the perfect addition to a smoke blend since it won’t disrupt whatever terpenes are already in your herbal mix.
Smoking mullein leaf can help with congestion by loosening the gunk that’s clogging your lungs and respiratory tract. It’s also been shown to be effective at killing bacteria. It’s a great herb to use for smokers who are trying to quit tobacco and for those who are fighting an infection or dealing with chronic lung issues like asthma, bronchitis or phlegm buildup.
It soothes inflamed lungs and prevents coughing until the infection or inflammation is broken up, helping you to effectively expel the gunk from your lungs. It’s an excellent lung-healing herb that’s been used as long as history has recorded, dating back to ancient Greece and even earlier in Native American cultures.
Mullein is also an excellent remedy for bursitis, which is a painful condition that affects the small, fluid-filled sacs, called bursae, that cushion your bones, tendons and muscles around joints. Typically, the condition results in achy and painful joints when you move or exercise, but it can also lead to inflammation, swelling and other complications.