Two wildflowers from a walk: Mullein and Ghost Pipe

I never remember the name of Mullein, Latin name Verbascum thapsus (left/first photo), so I thought I’d blog it in an attempt to remember.

Fun facts about the Mullein: It does not flower until the second year, and an individual flower is only open for a single day.

The second I saw for the first time and had to look it up when I got home: Ghost Pipe or Monotropa uniflora Archived Link. They are completely white, pop up from under the leaves in small bunches, and get their nutrients from tree roots via fungi. While they look like fungi themselves, they are regular flowering plants that are non-photosynthetic.