Perennial with tall, erect, leafy stems, stems are 4-angled, stems and leaves minutely hairy to smooth, aromatic; open flower stalks of small irregular flowers that are green except for the upper lobes which are red.
Differentiated from other Scrophularia primarily by the lance-like to somewhat rounded leaves that are cut off squarely at their base; flowers greenish or dull red, short and broad with short rounded petal lobes, upper most petals red, lower green.
Habitat
Found in rich soils in coniferous forests and moist canyons.
Flower Characteristics
Greenish or dull red; short and broad with short petal lobes, upper lobes red, rounded, flat and horizontally spreading or bent downward; flowers numerous, borne in loose terminal branched elongated clusters; stamens 4, shorter than the petals.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems have 4 angles; leaves lance-like to rounded, opposite, sharply toothed, tips pointed, truncate (base is nearly a straight horizontal edge); stemmed, the leaf stems under a third the length of the leaf blade.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Round or subglobose (not perfectly round) capsule, with 2 segments that split open at maturity.
Many dull, black seeds.