Mullein

Ah, I just went out and killed a Mullein plant.  Mullein is a mixed bag of good and bad.  Native to Europe and Asia, it was brought to the US in the early 18th century and had spread accross the US by the late 19th century.

It has several medicinal uses and while it doesn't pose much of a threat to crops or native plants in most places, it does attract nasty little bugs that do pose a threat to both. 

I think the only reason I let this one get so big was a knee jerk reaction to a gal that I used to ride horses with.  Every time she would get a glimps of a Mullein plant she would go on and on and on about what an ugly plant it was.  Now, I don't happen to think it's an ugly plant and it is a survivor.  That should be honored.

It's the first to pop up after man or fire has disturbed an area. Mankind relied on it for centuries for it's medicinal properties and thought enough of it to make sure it was one of the plants they took when colonizing new worlds.  I'm not saying that man hauling non native plants all over the place is a good thing, but that's not the plants fault.  I know, I'm being wierd.

Any way, it was attracting some weird bugs, so it and it's bugs are in a closed plastic bag now.  Sigh.