Here are some of the most striking: Adam’s flannel; shepherd’s staff; beggar’s blanket; rag paper; candlewick plant; hag’s taper. In the first of a new series on herbs and their properties, Miranda Seymour marvels at the rich history of `Verbascum thapsus’

IT’S HARD to think of a plant which has so many, and such odd, alternative names as the beautiful mullein, with its furry rosettes of leaves and brilliant yellow flowers Mrs Grieve’s Herbal lists 31 synonyms. All that I need for the task, therefore, is a trustworthy nursery from which to buy them, a large tape- measure, some bamboo canes, a spade, some home-made compost – and plenty of millenarian zeal.. YOU CAN use it as a shampoo, stun fish with it or wear it as underwear.

Whatever I choose, the plants must be genetically identical to each other, ie propagated vegetatively, rather than from seed – which might introduce a degree of variability. This form of ornamental crab apple from Japan is commonly planted with great effect in suburban streets, because it makes a naturally erect shape, with pink-flushed white flowers in spring, red and yellow fruits and brilliant, sumptuous leaf colour in autumn.I may, however, plump for the slightly smaller, also narrowly upright Malus `John Downie’, which has much the same virtues as M tschonoskii, but it is also a common denizen of the countryside, so will not fight with its surroundings in the way more exotic trees might do. Or perhaps I will go for that wonderful whitebeam, Sorbus thibetica `John Mitchell’, whose intensely silver-haired young leaves unfurl from the vertical, and look at a distance like gleaming magnolia flowers, before they open out. If the space were broader, then it would be no contest: it would have to the upward-growing form of hornbeam, Carpinus betulus `Fastigiata’, which naturally develops a “flame” shape, about 12m tall by 6m across at maturity. I have it in mind to plant, in my garden, a short avenue of Malus tschonoskii, with eight trees lining each side of a broad grass path (30m long by 10m across) that leads from the garden gate to the boundary, and is parallel to the low churchyard wall and, therefore, visible to churchgoers on Sundays. The only strict rule is that all the trees, whatever they are, should be the same.I appreciate that the times are out-of-joint for planting grandiose avenues again, but I wonder if there is something so ridiculous about planting a small-scale one, comprising medium-sized or small trees. At least until the beginning of this century, the avenue has been seen as a way of aggrandising a drive or road up to a house of consequence, or to bound a woodland ride, or point to a far vista.

Limes have always been the favourite, but sweet or horse chestnuts, beeches, weeping spruces, specimen Leyland cypresses, even monkey puzzle trees, have had their devotees. In 1656, John Evelyn notes in his diary, with admiration, the early maturity of the avenues planted by the first Duke of Buckingham at New Hall in Essex, especially the quadruple avenue of lime trees which led up to the house. It was already well- established as a feature of garden and park design by the early 17th century. This yew was donated by the Conservation Foundation, as part of its admirable “Yews for the Millennium” initiative.