Health

The Ancient Herb That Clears Lungs and Soothes Irritated Throats

A throat balm in a tea cup.
The Ancient Herb That Clears Lungs and Soothes Irritated Throats
Mullein verbascum extract. Kuttelvaserova Stuchelova/Shutterstock
Nicole James
|Updated:
0:00

Verbascum thapsus, more commonly known as mullein, is one of those ancient plants that has quietly persisted through millennia, outliving civilisations, dodging botanists, and refusing to be packaged into influencer-ready tinctures.

It has no logo, no lifestyle range, and no TikTok sponsorships. Just a long history of saving chests, lighting fires, and possibly predicting your romantic doom.

From Homer to Hedge Witches

The Greeks claimed Hermes gave mullein to Ulysses to shield him from Circe’s dark arts.
Nicole James
Nicole James
Author
Nicole James is a freelance journalist for The Epoch Times based in Australia. She is an award-winning short story writer, journalist, columnist, and editor. Her work has appeared in newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald, Sun-Herald, The Australian, the Sunday Times, and the Sunday Telegraph. She holds a BA Communications majoring in journalism and two post graduate degrees, one in creative writing.