Mullein: Traditional Remedies, Ear Drops and Modern Research

What is mullein?

Mullein is the common name for plants in the Verbascum genus. Common mullein, Verbascum thapsus, is a biennial: it usually grows a rosette of woolly leaves in its first year, then a tall spike of yellow flowers in its second. It is native to Europe and Asia and has spread to North America. BSBI's botanical account^[1] describes its recognizable foliage and flowering stem.

Flowers, leaves and extracts appear in teas, capsules, liquid supplements, ear oils and skin preparations. European medicinal guidance covers specified dried flowers for throat discomfort with a dry cough; human studies have also examined ear-drop blends, a flower-extract wound cream and a mullein-and-hyssop tea alongside hospital care.

From traditional remedies to modern products

European folk use includes both leaves and flowers for respiratory complaints. BSBI records a particularly strong Irish association with “consumption,” the historical term often used for tuberculosis, as well as flower infusions. The same account connects candle and taper names with dried plant material used for lighting with fat or wax. ^[1]

A modern scholarly review attributes smoked mullein practices to Mohegan, Penobscot and Forest Potawatomi communities. ^[2]

Flower oil for earache is another historical route described in the older European assessment^[3]. The multi-herb ear-pain trials below developed this local-treatment approach.

The European assessment^[4] also records an older handbook recipe: 1.5–2 g of flowers in 150–250 mL water, steeped for ten minutes, twice daily.

Mullein preparations and their uses

Flower tea for throat discomfort and dry cough

European traditional-use recognition now has a narrower, defined purpose: relief of sore throat associated with a dry cough or cold using the assessed flowers. The public summary explains a record of at least thirty years of use, including fifteen in the European Union, and insufficient clinical-trial evidence. ^[5]

The flower monograph covers V. thapsus, V. densiflorum—also called V. thapsiforme in older sources—and V. phlomoides. Use the species and plant part on a label to identify which preparation you are considering.

What the research shows

Mucilage consists of water-binding plant polysaccharides that become slippery in liquid. This is the traditional rationale for a soothing, or demulcent, action on irritated tissue. Saponins are another group of constituents discussed as a possible explanation for helping bring up mucus. The older European assessment attributes these explanations to herbal pharmacology texts.

The 2018 assessment found no clinical efficacy data for the flower preparation. Its 2024 review identified twenty newer references but considered them irrelevant to that monograph. Neither document provides a controlled estimate of how much flower tea reduces cough compared with a placebo. The herb's proposed actions therefore explain why it has been used, while the clinical size and reliability of its respiratory effect remain unsettled. ^[6]

Amounts and preparation

The European monograph^[7] describes 1.5–2 g of dried flowers in 150 mL boiling water, three to four times daily, giving a total of 4.5–8 g per day. These are traditional medicinal directions for adolescents and adults.

For a licensed medicinal tea, follow its leaflet.

Strain loose preparations thoroughly to remove plant hairs. The BSBI account specifically describes straining flower infusions because their rough hairs can irritate. ^[1]

Flower-tea precautions

The European documents need to be read together. The public summary says no side effects had been reported, and the monograph lists no known undesirable effects. The detailed assessment nevertheless records one suspected hepatitis report involving a single-ingredient Verbascum product, plus two reports involving combinations. The assessor considered the information insufficient to list an undesirable effect. A suspected report does not establish causation or a rate. ^[4]

The flower monograph lists no reported interactions and does not recommend flower-tea use in children under twelve.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

For flower tea, the European monograph does not recommend use during pregnancy or breastfeeding, because safety has not been established. ^[7]

Leaf capsules and liquid supplements

Leaf capsules and liquid supplements are sold for respiratory uses, including mucus and lung-cleansing claims. No assessed result establishes lung repair from these products.

Leaf capsules, tinctures and flower tea extract different mixtures. Milligrams of dried leaves, milligrams of extract and milliliters of liquid describe different quantities; the extract strength and ingredients determine what is being delivered.

At the October 25, 2026 check, the BetterLungs study^[8] listed 100 adults taking a mullein-leaf-and-chlorophyll liquid or placebo for sixty days. It was marked completed but had no posted outcome results.

Smoking mullein

A review of herbal cigarettes^[2] notes that the plant constituents proposed to explain the soothing tradition are unlikely to enter the smoke.

Multi-herb drops for ear pain

In a 2001 randomized trial^[9], 110 children aged six to eighteen entered a three-day comparison of herbal and anesthetic ear drops; 103 completed it. The herbal preparation contained mullein, garlic, calendula and St John's wort in olive oil. Children used five drops three times daily, and everyone also received an initial dose of acetaminophen.

Overall mean pain scores did not differ significantly between the groups. One early comparison, during the first thirty minutes, favored the herbal blend. The authors described their drops as at least as effective as the anesthetic preparation, but a nonsignificant difference does not establish equivalence, and the initial pain medicine complicates interpretation of that early result. Two participants withdrew because they could not tolerate the drops' smell; the report otherwise described no adverse effects.

A 2003 trial^[10] enrolled 180 children aged five to eighteen; 171 were analyzed after nine were excluded for missed treatment or follow-up. Its methods and tables clarify the four groups: herbal or anesthetic drops, each with or without amoxicillin. The herbal formulation also included lavender and vitamin E.

All groups improved, and the authors favored the herbal preparation. Interpretation remains limited: the paper inconsistently labels the timing of some pain results, and there was no oral placebo to conceal who received antibiotics. A contemporary critical commentary^[11] also questioned the exclusions and pain measurement, judging the evidence weak. No adverse events were reported during this short trial.

These trials tested multi-herb oils, so they cannot identify mullein’s individual contribution to pain relief.

Ear conditions that need assessment

A flower cream for childbirth wounds

A 2021 randomized trial^[12] tested a 7.5% ethanolic flower-extract cream after episiotomy—the incision sometimes made during childbirth. One hundred women were assigned to the extract cream or its base without extract; 93 contributed to the later analyses. The methods describe a two-centimeter strip of cream applied twice daily for ten days.

The investigators used REEDA, a wound score covering redness, swelling, bruising, discharge and how well the wound edges meet. Lower scores indicate better healing. On day ten, the mean was 0.67 with the extract cream and 2.26 with the base cream. The groups did not differ significantly on days one or three.

The result is encouraging for this local preparation, but it comes from one small study. The paper gives different day-ten significance values in its abstract, text and table, and its flow diagram conflicts with the table's early participant counts. All versions report a favorable day-ten difference; the reporting discrepancies limit confidence in the exact analysis.

An earlier pain report from 2016^[13] describes ninety-three women at the same hospital in 2015, using cream twice daily for ten days. Its abstract reports lower pain scores with mullein on days one, three and ten. The papers share the same trial-registration and ethics codes, so this adds a separate pain outcome rather than an independent replication.

A separate skin-reaction report

A separate 2017 dermatology case report^[14] concerns contact dermatitis—a skin reaction following contact—involving Verbascum thapsus and other plants. The available information does not show how often such reactions occur.

A hospital study of mullein with hyssop

A 2025 report^[15] describes eighty hospitalized adults with COVID-19, assigned to black tea or a drink prepared from fifteen grams of hyssop flowers and five grams of mullein leaves per half-liter. Participants drank 250 mL three times daily for nine days alongside oxygen and medicines.

The blend group had higher oxygen saturation at the end. Hospital stay was 1.25 days shorter in the unadjusted comparison, which was not statistically significant; after accounting for age and other patient characteristics, the estimated stay was 2.14 days shorter, a statistically significant difference. Important inconsistencies remain: the table shows a baseline oxygen difference despite the text saying otherwise, and two analyses give different estimates of the oxygen benefit without a clear explanation. Worsening illness requiring intensive care was an exclusion, but the account does not clearly establish whether patients were removed for that reason.

A companion symptom report^[16] shares the registry number, hospital, eighty participants and baseline table. It reports fewer respiratory symptoms with the blend, but describes eight treatment days instead of nine.

The tea combined two herbs, so the study cannot isolate the contribution of mullein.

Antibacterial and antiviral laboratory research

A 2002 study abstract^[17] reports laboratory activity of water and alcohol extracts against organisms including Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Escherichia coli.

The same research included toxicity assays in brine shrimp and radish seeds, with toxicity at higher concentrations. Those systems cannot establish a safe human dose. Likewise, an extract inhibiting bacteria in a dish does not tell us whether drinking tea delivers an effective concentration to infected tissue.

A 1991 laboratory study^[18] tested a freeze-dried flower infusion of V. thapsiforme. It reported activity against influenza A and B viruses and herpes simplex. The distinction matters: the preparation directly inactivated herpes simplex under one tested condition, but did not directly inactivate influenza viruses. These laboratory findings do not establish that drinking mullein tea prevents or treats a viral infection.

Other combinations under study

At the October 25, 2026 check, a study of nasal inflammation (rhinitis)^[19] involved sixty children aged four to fourteen and a formulation containing mullein, thyme, propolis and long-chain polyphosphates. Its planned outcomes concerned nasal symptoms over five to ten days, and no results were posted at that check.

Another planned study^[20] concerns cognition in older adults with mild impairment, comparing an olive-leaf preparation with or without mullein against placebo over six months. It was not yet recruiting. No outcome results were available from these registrations at that check.

The bottom line

Flower tea is the preparation with traditional-use guidance for throat discomfort with a dry cough. Ear oils and wound creams have their own local uses and clinical findings: the ear trials tested blends, while the wound-cream findings come from one small trial. Evidence for oral leaf supplements remains unsettled; the registered leaf-and-chlorophyll study had no posted results when we checked, and we will re-check later to see if they have any interesting findings.

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