This moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria) is blooming in our ditch. Seeds from this variety of weed (and 20 other common weeds) were buried in glass bottles in 1879 by William James Beal, a botanist at Michigan State University. The experiment was an attempt to determine how long buried plant seeds could survive. Moth mullein seeds are the only one of the 21 types that has had successful germination in each of the scheduled unearthings (the year 2000 being the most recent).
As Susan Hayward once said, "I want to live!"
Basking in its Fame, Moth Mullein says, "I'm gonna live forever!"