Scrophularia nodosa

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Scrophulariaceae
Tribus: Scrophularieae
Genus: Scrophularia
Species: Scrophularia nodosa
Name

Scrophularia nodosa L.
References

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Tomus II: 619. Reference page.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Scrophularia nodosa in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
العربية: غدب عقدي
башҡортса: Сираж
čeština: krtičník hlíznatý
Cymraeg: Gwrnerth
dansk: Knoldet Brunrod
Deutsch: Knotige Braunwurz, Knoten-Braunwurz
English: common figwort, knotted figwort, woodland figwort, figwort
español: escrofularia, hierba de lamparones, hierba de San Pedro
eesti: Harilik sealõuarohi
suomi: Tummasyyläjuuri, syyläjuuri
français: Scrofulaire noueuse, Scrophulaire noueuse
Gaeilge: Fothram
hrvatski: Strupnik
hornjoserbsce: Sučkaty trudownik
lietuvių: Nariuotasis bervidis
Nederlands: Knopig Helmkruid
norsk nynorsk: Brunrot
norsk: Brunrot
polski: Trędownik bulwiasty
русский: Норичник узловатый, Норичник шишковатый
slovenčina: krtičník hľuznatý
svenska: Flenört, Brunrot, Torsnässla
Türkçe: Adi sıraca otu, Adi sıracaotu
українська: Ранник вузлуватий

Scrophularia nodosa (also called figwort, woodland figwort, and common figwort) is a perennial herbaceous plant found in temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere except western North America.[1] It grows in moist and cultivated waste ground.[2]

Growth

It grows upright, with thick, sharply square, succulent stems up to 150 cm tall from a horizontal rootstock. Its leaves are opposite, ovate at the base and lanceolate at the tip, all having toothed margins. The flowers are in loose cymes in oblong or pyramidal panicles. The individual flowers are globular, with five green sepals encircling green or purple petals, giving way to an egg-shaped seed capsule.[3]
First year Scrophularia nodosa plant: swollen hypocotyl/stem with scars from the first four pairs of leaves (1-4). From (Warming 1884)
Fossil record

Seed identification of Scrophularia nodosa has been made from sub-stage IIIa of the Hoxnian at Clacton in Essex, from the Middle Pleistocene.[4]
Folklore

The plant was thought, by the doctrine of signatures, to be able to cure the throat disease scrofula because of the throat-like shape of its flowers.[5]
References

Mills, S., The Complete Guide to Modern Herbalism, Thorsons, Great Britain, 1994.
PLANTS Profile for Scrophularia nodosa (woodland figwort) | USDA PLANTS
Figwort
The History of the British Flora, A Factual Basis for Phytogeography by Sir Harry Godwin, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, ISBN 0 521 20254 X, 1975 edition page 318
Figwort[dead link]