moth mullein

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noun

a weedy, European mullein, Verbascum blattaria, of the figwort family, having lance-shaped leaves and loose spikes of white or yellow flowers.

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Origin of moth mullein

First recorded in 1570–80; from its mothlike appearance

Blanche was a fragile white moth beating against the unbreakable sides of a 1000 watt bulb.
Elia Kazan to Tennessee Williams: You Gotta Suffer to Sing the Blues|Elia Kazan|May 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Thomas Harris tipped his hat to Fowles in The Silence of the Lambs when he created the moth-loving antagonist Jame Gumb.
How to Understand the Criminal Mind By Reading This Novel|Casey N. Cep|December 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
For a contemporary manifestation of this moth-eaten brand of tyranny, look no further than Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Hamas: The Palestinian Fashion Police|Hussein Ibish|April 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
What does it mean for a Chinese tiger, stuffed by the English, to be left as moth-food today?
An Asian Tiger, Choking on Dust|Blake Gopnik|October 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Ain't no surer sign o' poor soil than a passel o' mullein stalks.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
The (p. 325) moth, whose egg produces these larv, is a large white miller of unusual size and prolificness.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through, and steal.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
I also saw the clerk busy folding up a moth-eaten velvet pall—not a sight for Christmas Day.
A Thin Ghost and Others|M. R. (Montague Rhodes) James
Spinning—he was for ever spinning, like a tireless moth through a fiery air; and the world went roaring past.
When Valmond Came to Pontiac, Complete|Gilbert Parker