Scrophularia

Scrophularia 

a genus of plants of the family Scro-phulariaceae. They are perennial and, less frequently, biennial or annual herbs; some are small subshrubs. The unattractive flowers are usually greenish, yellow, or lavender; they form long panicled or racemose inflorescences. The corolla, which is usually bilabiate, is globular or urceolate. The fruit is a bilocular, many-seeded capsule.

There are approximately 150 species (according to other data, up to 300), distributed primarily in the temperate and subtropical regions of Eurasia. Several species are found in Africa and in North and Central America. There are more than 70 species in the USSR, primarily in the Caucasus and Middle Asia. The figwort (S. nodosa) grows in moist and shady forests, among shrubs, in ravines, and along shorelines. It sometimes grows as a weed in cultivated fields.

The figwort and other species of Scrophularia contain saponins and alkaloids. The figwort is poisonous to cattle and sheep. Many species are good nectar-bearers. A variety of figwort having variegated leaves, as well as a number of other species of Scrophularia, are raised as ornamentals.

REFERENCE

Gorshkova, S. G. “Norichnik— Scrophularia L.” In Flora SSSR, vol 22. Moscow-Leningrad, 1955.

T. V. EGOROVA