"Brian" wrote in message
...
This seems even more likely to be Verbascum. Would be nice to hear when
you have verification. I think you will find a tall 'spire' of rather
insignificant yellow flowers eventually.
Best Wishes Brian..

Well, you were spot on, Brian! Had a look at some Verbascum pictures and
what we have growing in the allotment appears to be Verbascum olympicum. A
snippet of information I came across whilst looking was that here in England
the very poor used to put the thick leaves of Verbascum into their shoes for
warmth and that it is supposedly so that if fish eat the seeds of the plant
they become stupified, so much so that they can be caught by hand!

Thanks again for your help.

Tracey