That's the basal rosette of a Verbascum thapsis, aka Common mullein or Great mullein.

It's a rather amazing plant if you have a bit of space for one. Without any warning it shoots up a flower stalk to 6 or 8 feet, and folks are apt to cry out suddenly, "What is that thing?"

http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Wildflowers_Kimonis_Kramer/PAGES/COMMONMULLEIN_PAGE_FINAL.html

http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=750

I don't know where you are, but in some areas it's considered invasive (CA, CO, SD, IL, TN, and GA, according to the map at the link below).
http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=3080

though soft... though fuzzy ... it can be a thug...

if you let its 50 million seed self sow ...

pretty sure its a biennial ... meaning it will go like the dickens next spring ...

so... as noted... watch.. learn.. but decapitate it.. before it seeds ... which in my yard ..means.. hit it with round up now... lol ...

ken

Not my idea of 'ugly'. A lovely, big, silvery grey, symmetrical, velvety basal rosette. If it was an expensive perennial people would be fighting over it. Disliked by those who don't like self seeders. I just weed them out if they are somewhere I don't want them. Roundup is unnecessary - grasp with a hand and pull. No big deal.

I have about 6 here and the butterflies really love them. We live au natureal. No chemicals, no organic chemicals either. We have awesome crops even tho we have lot of bad bugs. Go figure. God is good!

correct flora ...

i just meant i hit it with RU ... as i work the 5 acres ...

absolutely no reason this one needs that ...

a shovel will pop it out of the ground.. presto ... but maybe not a hand trowel .... it can have a pretty decent root mass .. depending on age .....

i have enough of them around.. like OP ... is this another bird food type plant???? .. like other mullien???? .. meaning.. are my neighbors facilitating its planting with their cheap seed?????

ken

...and you should see yellow finches getting the seeds!!!
They just swarm on it. I leave it be, don't even cut stalks for winter because of that.

Obviously, doesn't suit some gardens and yes, it self-seeds.

Rina

Mullein, like so many different naturalized plants, were brought to the New World for their useful natures. Verbascum thapsus is a well know and loved medicinal plant. I've harvested much for medicinal use.

But as Flora says, it is not that hard to be rid of. It is rather sensitive to being disturbed/moved and won't come back from bits of root left behind if you dig it up. NO chemicals required and an easy plant to ID and spot when young.

FYI - Mullein is a biennial and the rosette above is ready to bloom in the next season. The tall flower spikes are visually interesting.

FataMorgana

What are the medicinal uses for it?

The naturopath I studied with likes to use it for asthma and other lung complaints. You can see more in pfaf.org listing below.

FataMorgana

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I have a couple on my ten acres. I don't mind them, and as said above, they pull easily. They are more common on the drier eastern part of Washington State than here on the western side. I've never seen them become an obnoxious weed despite their reseeding about.
I read somewhere there's a lady in England that is hybridizing them and has come up with a surprising about of blossom colors. I saw some pictures and they were quite ornamental.
Mike

Can someone please mail me a few of them? I'll pay postage and send you a bubble envelope. I have headaches 24/7 and one plugged ear for 11 years now. I'll try any herbal remedies. After 10 years of doctors and pharmaceuticals not working I ready to go au naturale.

For a number of years we would have one blooming mullein somewhere on our small holding. It would never be in the same place twice, or anywhere near it. The first time one appeared, the partner asked me should he pull it and I told him no. So each year we'd look forward to a new one sprouting somewhere, and this spring was the first time one didn't and I miss the show. Not at all invasive here and dramatic enough people notice it and ask. I like them.

I like Woolly Mullein too - stately, and with very pretty flowers. And we're also seeing Verbascum phlomoides (Clasping-leaf Mullein) in this area on an infrequent basis. That plant has leaves that are clasping and less winged, so the stems are relatively bare. Since it is spreading over much of the US, many of you have probably seen it.

The leaves are great for wiping up oil spills and other rag duties.
And because they are in over abundance you will be saving the environment . The seeds contain rotenone a known pesticide.
So don't ingest seeds.

I will either dig or let them them stay, depending on where in my yard they pop up. This year I notice that their flowers attracted quite a number of Japanese Beetles. Not sure if that was good (sacrificial plant) or bad (drawing beetles to my yard like a pheromone trap) but I let them stay. It did allow me to nail quite a few JBs in one fell swoop.

tj