Is this 5-petal flower a native to Michigan or nearby areas like Wisconsin, or Ontario?

Question

Two specimens of this plant are growing in my yard, which I am devoting to native plants. ID help is appreciated, to know if it should be kept or removed. It is about 3 feet tall, a straight stalk with leaves that come right from the central stalk. The leaves spiral around, not in pairs, and have a toothed edge. The flower is white, or slightly pinkish, and has 5 petals, and is about an inch and a half across. It is flowering in the 3rd week of June.

Here is a link for pictures of the flower and leaves:

http://michiganplants.wikispaces.com/Mystery+plants

Answer 1

Yes and no it depends.

Answer 2

What you have is the white-flowering form of Moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria).  http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symb...  There's also a yellow-flowering form, which you can see in the photos in the link.

This plant isn't a true native, but introduced to the US.  I have this growing along an abandoned railroad that runs through my yard, and since not much else will grow in the old ballast and coke cinders, I actually encourage it to grow there as I find it a pretty flower.  It's not invasive, as it's relative the common mullein  http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symb... tends to be.

The plant is a biennial, and flowers in the second year - if you look around, you may find other rosettes of leaves which will be next year's flowering plants.

Answer 3

Dunno, I went through all my books as I am doing a plant press of 70 species of flowers top south eastern ontario, but cant find this one. Even on the Michigan wildflower site.