SCROPHULARIA nodosa.
Knotty-rooted Figwort.
DIDYNAMIA Angiospermia.
Gen. Char. Cal. 5-cleft. Cor. somewhat globose,
reversed. Caps, superior, 2-celled.
Spec. Char. "Leaves heart-shaped, acute, with three
ribs'at the base. Stem sharp-edged.
Syn. Scrophularia nodosa. Linn. Sp. PI. 863. Sm.
FI. Brit. 663. Huds. 274. With. 553. Hull.
138. Relh. 246. Sibth. 196. Abbot. 138.
S. major. Raii Syn. *283. Ger. em. 716.
C o m m o n in shady rather dry places, about hedge bottoms
and in groves, flowering in July and August.
Root perennial, whitish, thick and tuberous, beset with
little knobs. Stem 2 or 3 feet high, upright, simple, leafy,
furnished with 4 sharp angles, smooth. Leaves opposite, on
footstalks, heart-shaped, acute, serrated, smooth, of a shining
dark green above, paler beneath, veiny, with one principal
rib, and 2 smaller ones at the base which run a little
way along the margin, affording an example of what Linnaeus
denominates £* a leaf 3-nerved at the base. Flowerstalks
axillary and terminal, forked, angular and glandular, each
bearing a pair of lanceolate bracteae, and all together combining
to form a compound upright cluster. The calyx, as
well as the summit of each flowerstalk, is smooth. Corolla
dull green, with a livid purple lip. Capsule ovate and pointed,
longer than in S. aqualica, t. 854,
Every part of the plant is very foetid when bruised, resembling
Elder in scent. It is reported to be good for scrophu-
lous diseases, whence the generic name; but we are not
certain, how far the form of the root might suggest its use in
glandular swellings. A medical botanist must always be on
his guard against whim, superstition and quackery.