Roots

I feel I covered a lot of root describing in the last post. I shall sum it up. 

The plant is a prairie plant. Prairies are low in water. The plants must have long roots to access the deep water tables. V. Thapsus is one of those plants with long, deep roots. No body has been able to measure the length of the tap root. The most people usually get is a couple feet down before they get impatient and snap it off. Here is a picture of V. Thapsus' tap root. As seen it is thick. 

On a side note you can see that the plant has it's growth center not above ground, but under/at ground level.  (Like the quiescent center but for the upward growth)This helps when a forest fire of herbivores eat/destroy the top of the plant. The V. Thapsus is able to regenerate new leaves quickly and is able to continue photosynthesizing. The stem on the plant is very small and the leaves are the main mass of the plant. 

This plant does have lateral roots, although they are not as main as the tap root. There are significantly less lateral roots.  

As for mycorrhize, I have not found any information. I looked at several different web sites which all talk about germinating and planing this plant, and they don't say anything about making sure there is the right species of mycorrhize. Their plants do well. I would assume that this means the plant uses a generic species of mycorrhize that can be found in the prairies. Most likely an arbuscular mycorrhize The mycorrhize would help with lack of lateral roots. The fungi would help the plants have enough nutrients, and in turn the plants would give the mycorrhize carbon or sugars or what ever it would need. The fungi would also help in collecting rain water and delivering it to the plant. 

Water Issues of Mullein

Water is factor is V. Thapsus. The plant has adapted for it by creating a deep root system that in the first year is significantly larger than the plant mass above ground. The first year of this plant the root system is the main priority, the leaves stay flat and spread out horizontally. The second year the storage in the roots is used to grow the plant up  wards and to produce flowers. The tap root is shown in the below picture.

The leaves are also adapted for reducing water loss. The leaves are hairy which, as we learned in class reduce airflow over the stomata, this decreases the water evaporation. The plant's petiole is relatively thick, and hairy as well. The thickness is due to large xylem and vascular tissues to transport the water to the leaves for evaporation. They are hairy to avoid excess evaporation with respirating. The entire plant is very well adapted for the low moisture of the prairie.

The light color of the hairs reflects light, keeping the plant cool t also prevent excess water loss.

Leaves

http://fireflyforest.net/images/firefly/2005/July/Verbascum-thapsus-2.jpg

Through my own observations I've found that the leaves are fuzzy, having light colored hairs on the leaves. This helps prevent the leaves from drying out as well as assisting in keeping herbivores away. The leaves are large, and relatively smooth on the edges. The underside is not nearly as hairy as the top. It is still fuzzy however. The leaves are relatively thick with all the hair. The leaves as shown in the picture above spiral around the stock this is during the plants second - and last year. During the first year of this plant the plant is low to the ground, but still has that spiraling structure. The leaves on the bottom of the plant are larger in both width and length. The size tapers to allow light to hit those lower plants. Self-shading is a big issue for this plant, and this is the strategy it utilizes to overcome that issue.

The leaves are the most identifying structure on this plant, after which are the flowers. All that I have mentioned above I have self observed looking at these pictures posted here and through my own experience among them.

http://www.missouriplants.com/Yellowalt/Verbascum_thaspus_leaf2.jpg

Some things I found out about the plants are some of the medicinal uses of the leaves. I cannot vouch for these herbal remedies, botanical.com says people do this.

"The dried leaves are sometimes smoked in an ordinary tobacco pipe to relieve the irritation of the respiratory mucus membranes, and will completely control, it is said, the hacking cough of consumption. They can be employed with equal benefit when made into cigarettes, for asthma and spasmodic coughs in general" 

(http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mulgre63.html#med).

I personally doubt adding smoke to your lungs - no matter the plant- would not be beneficial to your health. I will not be trying this method of healing a hacking cough.

Try it if you dare.