Figwort

Figwort, common name for a plant family comprising about 220 genera and 4,450 species of mostly temperate herbs, and for its representative genus. Important members of the figwort family include the calceolaria, foxglove, monkey flower, snapdragon, and speedwell. The common foxglove yields the cardiac stimulant digitalis.

The family contains mostly herbaceous plants, with some shrubs and trees. Leaves are alternate or opposite and the stems are often square in cross-section. The flowers are irregular (bi-laterally symmetrical) with a four- or five-lobed calyx (outer floral envelope) and a corolla (inner floral envelope) which is frequently two-lipped. The fruit is usually a capsule, occasionally a berry.

Many parasitic species are included in the family. Most of these are semi-parasites or partial parasites, plants which manufacture some of their own food but rob their hosts of water and some nutrients via attachments to the roots. Eyebrights and cow-wheats are examples. A few species, such as toothwort, are holoparasites or parasites which have no green pigments and greatly reduced leaves, and are completely dependent on their hosts for food. Several genera of the figwort family are parasitic on the roots of pasture grasses, as well as maize, rice, sorghum, and sugar cane—all major crops—and are important agricultural pests. The closely related broomrapes are holoparasites with species that attack potatoes and other food crops as well as wild plants.

The foxglove tree belongs to a related family. Native to China, it is grown as an ornamental for its spikes of showy flowers resembling those of the true foxglove.

Scientific classification: Figworts make up the family Scrophulariaceae. The representative genus is Scrophularia. The common foxglove is classified as Digitalis purpurea. Eyebrights make up the genus Euphrasia and cow-wheats the genus Melampyrum. Toothwort is classified as Lathraea squamaria. Broomrapes are classified in the genus Orobanche of the family Orobancaceae. The foxglove tree is classified as Paulownia tomentosa of the family Bignoniaceae.