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Scrophularia auriculata (Water Figwort) |
Scrophularia auriculata (SCROPHULARIACEAE.)
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000. |
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| Nomenclature and Basic Information |
Species name : |
Scrophularia auriculataL.
Published in L., Sp. Pl. 620 (1753) |
Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.) |
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Plant Family : |
Scrophulariaceae
Juss. (The Figwort Family)
9 species from the Scrophulariaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands. | English name(s) : | Water Figwort, Water Betony, Bishop's Leaves |
Maltese name(s) : |
Fiswet il-kelb tal-ilma |
Status for Malta : |
Indigenous. Present on the Maltese islands before man |
Frequency : |
Very Common Common Frequent Scarce Rare Very rare Extinct |
Growth form : |
Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: HEMICRYPTOPHYTE ( prostate plants with flowers close to the ground )
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon |
Legal Protection : |
Not legally protected till the last update of this website (25/Sep/2021) |
Red List (1989) : |
Threatened status for the Maltese Islands and has been listed in the Red Data Book (1st ed.) |
Flowering Time : |
February – May |
Colour of Flowers: |
Red or Dark |
Name Derivation : |
Scrophularia: Named in 1474 by an Italian physician who noticed the resemblance between the rhizomal knobs of some species and the tubercular condition of human lymph nodes called scrophula. Scrofula is a form of tuberculosis affecting the lymph nodes, especially of the neck, that is most common in children and is usually spread by unpasteurized milk from infected cows. (Latin origin )
auriculata:
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Description, Habitat and Distribution | |
Habitat in Europe: |
Riversides and other damp places. | |
Preferred habitat in Malta: |
Damp habitats and valleys close to arable land. | |
Botanical Description: |
Glabrous, rarely somewhat pubescent perennial; rhizome not nodular; stem 50-100 cm, 4-angled, the angles produced into wings c. 1 mm wide. Leaves 5-12(-25) cm, simple or with one (rarely more) pair of small lobes at the base, ovate to elliptical, crenate, the lower obtuse, the upper subacute, truncate to subcordate at base. Bracts mostly linear, not leaf-like; pedicels up to twice as long as calyx, glandular. Calyx-lobes ovate-orbicular, serrate, glabrous; margin broadly scarious. Corolla (5-)7-9 mm, greenish, with purplish-brown upper lip. Staminode more or less orbicular, scarcely emarginate. Capsule 4-6 mm, subglobose, obtuse, mucronate. | |
Chromosome number: |
2n=78, 80, 84, 86 | |
Distributional range: |
W. Europe, northwards to the Netherlands Italy and Sicilia Kriti. |
Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018): |
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Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993): |
the Azores, Belgium, the Balaeric Islands, Britain (excl. Northern Ireland and Channel islands), Corse, Crete, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta |
Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(from Euro+Med Checklist, 2019)
Country codes
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? Ag Az(F L M S) Be Bl Br Co Cr Ga(F) Ge Hb(E) He Ho Hs(S) It Lu Ma Sa Si(M S) Tn [nCa(C)] |
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Atlas Flora Europaea
GBIF Distribution map
