Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

MARYLAND FIGWORT

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Scrophularia marilandica L.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 3-9 feet

Family: Scrophulariaceae - Figwort Family

Flowering Period: August, September

Stems:

Erect, slender, often much branched, 4-angled, grooved, glabrous below to glandular pubescent above.

Leaves:

Opposite, ovate to lanceolate, 3 to 8 inches long, 1.1 to 3.6 inches wide; margins sharply toothed; tip tapering to point; stalk slender, 3/5 to 3 inches long.

Inflorescences:

Panicle, somewhat pyramidal, 2 to 6 inches wide, nearly leafless, terminal.

Flowers:

Calyx deeply 5-parted, about .1 inch long; segments 5, rounded, about as long as tube; corolla strongly 2-lipped, 1/5 to 2/5 inch long, reddish-brown inside, pale green outside; upper lip 2-lobed, flat, erect; lower lip shorter with vertical lateral lobes; fertile stamens 4; sterile stamen club-shaped, longer than wide, brown or brownish-purple.

Fruits:

Capsule, broadly egg-shaped or nearly spherical, 1/6 to 1/4 inch long, shiny brown; seeds numerous.

Habitat:

Woods, thickets, and moist, shaded ravines.

Distribution:

Principally in east 1/3 of Kansas.

Maryland figwort