General: Perennial herb from thickened roots; stems erect, 80-150 cm tall, clustered, 4-angled, minutely glandular-hairy.
Leaves: Opposite, stalked, the stalks 1-4 cm long, the blades egg-shaped to lance-triangular, 5-15 cm long, coarsely single- to double-sawtoothed.
Flowers: Inflorescence a long, narrow branched, terminal cluster of stalked flowers, the stalks glandular-hairy, corollas 8-14 mm long, yellowish-green to greenish-brown, urn-shaped, 2-lipped, the upper lip pointing forward, 2-lobed, the lower lip shorter, 3-lobed, the middle lobe pointing down; calyces 3-4 mm long, 5-lobed, the lobes egg-shaped, rounded; fertile stamens 4, sterile stamen 1, attached near the base of the upper lip, yellow-green, fan-shaped, wider than long.
1. Sterile stamens purple or brown, mostly 0.5-1 mm wide and slightly longer than wide; corollas dark maroon, at least on the upper lip....................Scrophularia californica
1. Sterile stamens yellow-green, generally 1-1.8 mm wide and slightly wider than long; corollas yellowish-green with a light maroon overcast, especially above.......................Scrophularia lanceolata
Habitat / Range
Moist to mesic roadsides, clearings, thickets and forest edges in the lowland and montane zones; rare on Vancouver Island and in SC BC; E to PQ and NS and S to VT, PA, NC, IN, IO, OK, NM, UT, NV and CA.
