''Scrophularia umbrosa'', the green figwort, is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

found in Europe and Asia. It grows in moist and cultivated waste ground. The species looks very similar to the closely related ''

Scrophularia auriculata ''Scrophularia auriculata'', the shoreline figwort or water figwort, is a perennial plant of the genus Scrophularia in the family Scrophulariaceae. It is found commonly in Western Europe and North Africa, on the margins of rivers, ponds and simil ...

'' (water figwort). Green figwort has a greener stem than water figwort, and lacks the leaf auricles which give water figwort its Latin name. The plant is probably poisonous to cows. It is pollinated by bees and wasps. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade, but requires moist or wet soil.

Conservation

The global conservation status of this species, as of 2013, is least concern. In the United Kingdom it is a very locally distributed species though increasingly abundant.

Folklore

The plant was thought, by the

doctrine of signatures The doctrine of signatures, dating from the time of Dioscorides and Galen, states that herbs resembling various parts of the body can be used by herbalists to treat ailments of those body parts. A theological justification, as stated by botanists ...

to be able to cure the throat disease scrofula because of the throat-like shape of its flowers.Figwort

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q159823 umbrosa Medicinal plants Flora of North America