Verbascum Thapsus - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

For the purpose of botanical nomenclature, Verbascum thapsus was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in his 1753 Species Plantarum. The specific epithet thapsus had been first used by Theophrastus (as θάψος, "thapsos") for an unspecified herb from the Ancient Greek settlement of Thapsos, near modern Syracuse, Sicily, though it is often assimilated to the ancient Tunisian city of Thapsus.

At the time, no type specimen was specified, as the practice only arose later, in the 19th century. When a lectotype (type selected amongst original material) was designated, it was assigned to specimen 242.1 of Linnaeus' herbarium, the only V. thapsus specimen. The species had previously been designated as type species for Verbascum. European plants exhibit considerable phenotypical variation, which has led to the plant acquiring many synonyms over the years. Introduced American populations show much less variation.

The taxonomy of Verbascum has not undergone any significant revision since Svanve Mürbeck's monographies in the 30s, with the exception of the work of Arthur Huber-Morath, who used informal group in organizing the genus for the floras of Iran and Turkey to account for many intermediate species. Since Huber-Morath's groups are not taxonomical, Mürbeck's treatment is the most current one available, as no study has yet sought to apply genetic or molecular data extensively to the genus. In Mürbeck's classification, V. thapsus is placed in section Bothrospermae subsect. Fasciculata (or sect. Verbascum subsect. Verbascum depending on nomenclatural choices) alongside species such as Verbascum nigrum (black or dark mullein), Verbascum lychnitis (white mullein) and Verbascum sinuatum (wavy-leaved mullein).