Scrophularia

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}{{More citations needed|date=July 2012}}

{{Redirect|Figwort|other plants sometimes referred to as figwort|List of plants known as figwort}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Scrophularia nodosa8.jpg

|image_caption = Scrophularia nodosa

|taxon = Scrophularia

|authority = L.

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = 289, see List

| synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}}

• Ceramanthe (Rchb.) Dumort.
• Mosheovia Eig
• Oreosolen Hook.f.
• Scrophucephalus A.P.Khokhr.
• Tomiephyllum Fourr.
• Tuerckheimocharis Urb.
• Venilia Fourr.

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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. The genus is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

Scrophularia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Phymatopus hectoides.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}

Some species in this genus are known to contain potentially useful substances, such as iridoids, and several Scrophularia species, such as the Ningpo figwort (S. ningpoensis), have been used by herbal medicine practitioners around the world. The name Scrophularia comes from scrofula, a form of tuberculosis, because several species have been used in herbal medicine for this disease.{{Cite book |last=Culpeper |first=Nicholas |title=Culpeper's complete herbal: a book of natural remedies for ancient ills |publisher=Wordsworth Editions |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-85326-345-3 |series=Wordsworth reference series |location=Ware}}{{Cite book |last=Garran |first=Thomas Avery |title=Western Herbs according to Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Practitioner's Guide |date=2008-01-22 |publisher=Healing Arts Press |isbn=9781594771910 |language=English}}