Scrophulariaceae
Encyclopedia
Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family, are a family
of flowering plant
s. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with flowers with bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. Members of the Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution
, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. The family name is based on the name of the included genus Scrophularia
L.
.
In the past it was treated as including about 275 genera and over 5,000 species, but its circumscription has been radically altered since numerous molecular phylogenies have shown the traditional broad circumscription to be grossly polyphyletic. Many genera have recently been transferred to other families within the Lamiales
, notably Plantaginaceae
and Orobanchaceae
but also several new families. Several families of the Lamiales have had their circumscriptions enlarged to accommodate genera transferred from Scrophulariacae sensu lato.
The family includes some medicinal plants
, among them:
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with flowers with bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. Members of the Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution
Cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. The family name is based on the name of the included genus Scrophularia
Scrophularia
The genus Scrophularia of the family Scrophulariaceae comprises about 200 species of herbaceous flowering plants commonly known as figworts. Species of Scrophularia all share square stems, opposite leaves and open two-lipped flowers forming clusters at the end of their stems...
L.
Carolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
.
In the past it was treated as including about 275 genera and over 5,000 species, but its circumscription has been radically altered since numerous molecular phylogenies have shown the traditional broad circumscription to be grossly polyphyletic. Many genera have recently been transferred to other families within the Lamiales
Lamiales
Lamiales is an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes approximately 11,000 species divided into about 20 families...
, notably Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is Plantago L..In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have...
and Orobanchaceae
Orobanchaceae
Orobanchaceae, the broomrape family, is a family of flowering plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera were formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae sensu lato...
but also several new families. Several families of the Lamiales have had their circumscriptions enlarged to accommodate genera transferred from Scrophulariacae sensu lato.
The family includes some medicinal plants
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
, among them:
- Leptandra, black root, Culver's root
- ScrophulariaScrophulariaThe genus Scrophularia of the family Scrophulariaceae comprises about 200 species of herbaceous flowering plants commonly known as figworts. Species of Scrophularia all share square stems, opposite leaves and open two-lipped flowers forming clusters at the end of their stems...
, figworts - Verbascum, mulleins
Genera
Tribe Aptosimeae
Tribe Buddlejeae
Tribe Hemimerideae
Tribe Leucophylleae
Tribe Limoselleae
|
Selago Selago is a genus of plant in family Scrophulariaceae. It contains the following species :* Selago lepida, Hilliard* Selago nachtigalii, Rolfe... L. Sutera (plant) Sutera is a genus of annual and perennial flowering plants and shrubs of the family Scrophulariaceae mainly confined to Africa. S cordata was named Manulea cordata in 1800 by Thunberg. Bentham renamed it Chaenostoma in 1836, Kuntze changed it to Sutera in 1891 on the grounds of Synonymy... Roth syn. Manulea Thun. – Dwarf Snapdragon, "Bacopa" Zaluzianskya Zaluzianskya is a genus of flowering plants now regarded as being a member of the Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family. The genus is endemic to Southern Africa and includes some described sixty species.-Taxonomy:... F.W.Schmidt Tribe Myoporeae
Tribe Scrophularieae
Tribe Teedieae
Not placed in a tribe
|
Excluded genera
The following genera, traditionally included in the Scrophulariaceae, have been transferred to other families as indicated:
|
Phrymaceae Phrymaceae , also known as the Lopseed family, is a small plant family in the order Lamiales. It now consists of about 190 species, distributed worldwide but with the majority in western North America and Australia .Previously, this family was monotypic with the genus Phryma, and limited in... Gratiola Gratiola is a genus of plants in the Plantaginaceae family. Most species are known generally as hedgehyssops. The genus was previously included in the Scrophulariaceae .Species include:... L. → Plantaginaceae Hebe (plant) Hebe is a genus of plants native to New Zealand, Rapa in French Polynesia, the Falkland Islands, and South America. It includes about 90 species and is the largest plant genus in New Zealand. Apart from H. rapensis , all species occur in New Zealand. This includes the two species, H. salicifolia... Comm. ex Juss. → Plantaginaceae Keckiella Keckiella is a genus of plants in the [Scrophulariaceae/Snapdragon family]]. It includes several species of plants known commonly as keckiellas. A few species may be called beardtongues or penstemons because some keckiellas once belonged to genus Penstemon. Keckiellas are native to the American... Straw → Plantaginaceae Kickxia Kickxia is a genus of plants in the figwort family. It includes several species of plants known commonly as cancerworts or fluellins. They are mostly native to Europe, but two species, K. elatine and K. spuria are well-known elsewhere as invasive weeds. Genus Kickxia was named after the Belgian... Dumort. → Plantaginaceae Linaria Linaria is a genus of about 100 species of herbaceous annuals and perennials that was traditionally placed in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. Due to new genetic research, it has now been placed in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae... Mill. → Plantaginaceae Lophospermum Lophospermum is a genus in the family Plantaginaceae. This genus was traditionally placed in the foxglove family Scrophulariaceae... D.Don → Plantaginaceae Maurandella Maurandella is a genus of flowering plants in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. It is sometimes included in Maurandya.-Selected species:... (A.Gray) Rothm. → Plantaginaceae Maurandya Maurandya is a genus of flowering plants in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. Some authorities include in it Epixiphium and Maurandella.-Selected species:*Maurandya barclayana Lindl. – Mexican Viper... Ortega → Plantaginaceae Mazus Mazus is a genus of low-growing perennial plants in the lopseed family, Phrymaceae. Consisting of around 30 species, this genus is generally found in damp habitats in lowland or mountain regions of China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.... Lour. → Phrymaceae Melampyrum Melampyrum is a genus of about 10-20 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere... L. → Orobanchaceae Mimulus Mimulus is a diverse plant genus, the monkey-flowers and musk-flowers. The about 150 species are currently placed in the family Phrymaceae. The genus has traditionally been placed in Scrophulariaceae. The removal of Mimulus from that family has been supported by studies of chloroplast DNA first... L. → Phrymaceae Mohavea Mohavea is a plant genus consisting of two species native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.The two species are both notable annuals flowering in the spring; the ghostflower M. confertiflora features large pale flowers with a pattern of purple spots, while the... A.Gray → Plantaginaceae Nemesia (plant) Nemesia is a genus of annuals, perennials and sub-shrubs which are native to Africa. A range of hybrids of species in this genus are commonly cultivated.Species include:... → Plantaginaceae |
Nothochelone Nothochelone is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the plantain family containing the single species Nothochelone nemorosa, which is known by the common name woodland beardtongue... (A.Gray) Straw → Plantaginaceae Nuttallanthus Nuttallanthus is a genus of four species of herbaceous annuals and perennials that was traditionally placed in the foxglove family Scrophulariaceae. Due to new genetic research, it has now been placed in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae. Three species of Nuttallanthus are native to North... D.A.Sutton → Plantaginaceae Odontites Odontites is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. One of its species, the Odontites granatensis, endemic to the Sierra Nevada in Spain, was so threatened that in 1993 only 1,500 plants survived in two locations; due to conservation efforts the plant has made a comeback,... Ludw. → Orobanchaceae Broomrape Broomrape or Broom-rape is a genus of over 200 species of parasitic herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae, mostly native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Some species formerly included in this genus are now referred to the genus Conopholis.The broomrape plant is small, from... L. → Orobanchaceae Orthocarpus Orthocarpus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. They are native to North America. A number of species formerly included in this genus have been transferred to the genus Castilleja, of the Indian Paintbrush named plants.... Nutt. → Orobanchaceae Parentucellia Parentucellia is a small genus of flowering plants in the broomrape family containing about four species. They are known generally as glandweeds. The genus was named for Pope Nicholas V, whose surname was Parentucelli.Species include:... Viv. → Orobanchaceae Paulownia Paulownia is a genus of from 6 to 17 species of plants in the monogeneric family Paulowniaceae, related to and sometimes included in the Scrophulariaceae. They are native to much of China, south to northern Laos and Vietnam, and long cultivated elsewhere in eastern Asia, notably in Japan and Korea... Siebold & Zucc. → Paulownia Paulownia Paulownia is a genus of from 6 to 17 species of plants in the monogeneric family Paulowniaceae, related to and sometimes included in the Scrophulariaceae. They are native to much of China, south to northern Laos and Vietnam, and long cultivated elsewhere in eastern Asia, notably in Japan and Korea... ceae Penstemon Penstemon , Beard-tongue, is a large genus of North American and East Asian plants traditionally placed in the Scrophulariaceae family. Due to new genetic research, it has now been placed in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae... Schmidel → Plantaginaceae Rhinanthus Rhinanthus is a genus of annual hemiparasitic herbs in the family Orobanchaceae, formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae. The genus consists of about 30-40 species found in Europe, northern Asia, and North America, with the greatest species diversity in Europe.Selected... L. → Orobanchaceae Russelia Russelia is a genus of flowering plants in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. It is sometimes placed in the families Scrophulariaceae or Veronicaceae. The name honours Scottish naturalist Alexander Russell . Members of the genus are commonly known as Firecracker plants or Coralblows... Jacq. → Plantaginaceae Stemodia Stemodia is a genus of flowering plants in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. The roughly 20 species it contains are commonly known as twintips. They are found across the tropical Americas and into the subtropics. These perennials have toothed leaves and racemes of colorful flowers which are... L. → Plantaginaceae Striga (plant) Striga, commonly known as witches weed, is a genus of 28 species of parasitic plants that occur naturally in parts of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Witchweeds are characterized by bright-green stems and leaves and small, brightly colored flowers. Furthermore, they are obligate parasites of roots... Lour. → Orobanchaceae Torenia Torenia is a genus of plants in the snapdragon family, Scrophulariaceae or also classified in Linderniaceae by some authors. Often called Wishbone flowers, some species are grown as garden plants. Many F1 and F2 Torenia hybrids have been hybridizied in the last 30 years. Colors can range from white... L. → Linderniaceae Triphysaria Triphysaria is a genus of five plants in the broomrape family which are known generally as owl's clovers. This genus is closely related to the genera Castilleja and Orthocarpus... Fisch. & C.A.Mey. → Orobanchaceae Veronica (plant) Veronica is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae, with about 500 species; it was formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae... L. → Plantaginaceae Veronicastrum Veronicastrum is a genus of the plantain family.- Species of genus Veronicastrum :* Veronicastrum borissovae* Veronicastrum cerasifolium* Veronicastrum sachalinense* Veronicastrum sibiricum, Sibirian veronicastrum... Heist. ex Fabr. → Plantaginaceae |
External links
- Kew list of Scrophulariaceae
- Family Scrophulariaceae Flowers in Israel