Figwort family | |
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Scrophularia nodosa | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Scrophulariaceae Juss. |
Genera | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
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The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. The family name is based on the name of the included genus Scrophularia L.
![]() | This article needs attention from an expert in botany. The specific problem is: This article needs a comparison between the current and obsolete circumscriptions of the group, its current composition, and the present location of excluded taxa. None of these issues is adequately dealt with here.(August 2015) |
In the past, it was treated as including about 275 genera and over 5,000 species, but its circumscription has been radically altered since numerous molecular phylogenies have shown the traditional broad circumscription to be grossly polyphyletic. [2] Many genera have recently been transferred to other families within the Lamiales, notably Plantaginaceae and Orobanchaceae, but also several new families. [3] [4] Several families of the Lamiales have had their circumscriptions enlarged to accommodate genera transferred from the Scrophulariacae sensu lato .
Fischer (2004) considered the family to consist of three subfamilies – Antirrhinoideae, Gratioloideae, and Digitalidoideae. He further divided the Gratioloideae into five tribes – Gratioleae, Angeloniaeae, Stemodieae, Limoselleae, and Lindernieae. He then divided the Gratioleae, with its 16 genera (and about 182 species) into three subtribes – Caprarinae, Dopatrinae, and Gratiolinae. The Gratiolinae had 10 genera (about 121 species) distributed through temperate and tropical America – Bacopa and Mecardonia (formerly Herpestis ), Amphianthus , Gratiola , Sophronanthe , Benjaminia , Scoparia , Boelkea , Maeviella , and Braunblequetia . Many of these were transferred to the family Plantaginaceae, in the tribe Gratioleae.
The family includes some medicinal plants, among them:
The family Scrophulariaceae in its APG IV (2016) [5] circumscription includes 62 genera and about 1830 known species. [6] As of May 2024, Plants of the World Online accepts 58 genera. [7]
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The following genera, traditionally included in the Scrophulariaceae, have been transferred to other families as indicated:
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The order Lamiales are an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes about 23,810 species, 1,059 genera, and is divided into about 25 families. These families include Acanthaceae, Bignoniaceae, Byblidaceae, Calceolariaceae, Carlemanniaceae, Gesneriaceae, Lamiaceae, Lentibulariaceae, Linderniaceae, Martyniaceae, Mazaceae, Oleaceae, Orobanchaceae, Paulowniaceae, Pedaliaceae, Peltantheraceae, Phrymaceae, Plantaginaceae, Plocospermataceae, Schlegeliaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Stilbaceae, Tetrachondraceae, Thomandersiaceae, Verbenaceae.
The Juglandaceae are a plant family known as the walnut family. They are trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia.
The Verbenaceae, the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.
Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older classifications, Plantaginaceae was the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have demonstrated that this taxon should be included within Lamiales.
The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera.
The Onagraceae are a family of flowering plants known as the willowherb family or evening primrose family. They include about 650 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees in 17 genera. The family is widespread, occurring on every continent from boreal to tropical regions.
Paulowniaceae are a family of flowering plants within the Lamiales. They are a monophyletic and monogeneric family of trees with currently 7 confirmed species. They were formerly placed within Scrophulariaceae sensu lato, or as a segregate of the Bignoniaceae.
Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera were formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae sensu lato. With its new circumscription, Orobanchaceae forms a distinct, monophyletic family. From a phylogenetic perspective, it is defined as the largest crown clade containing Orobanche major and relatives, but neither Paulownia tomentosa nor Phryma leptostachya nor Mazus japonicus.
Phrymaceae, also known as the lopseed family, is a small family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. It has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution, but is concentrated in two centers of diversity, one in Australia, the other in western North America. Members of this family occur in diverse habitats, including deserts, river banks and mountains.
Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a distinctive fruit type called an accessory fruit or anthocarp, and many genera have extremely large pollen grains.
Rehmannia is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the order Lamiales and family Orobanchaceae, endemic to China. It has been placed as the only member of the monotypic tribe Rehmannieae, but molecular phylogenetic studies suggest that it forms a clade with Triaenophora. Contrary to the immense majority of the taxa of Orobanchaceae, Rehmannia is not parasitic.
Buddlejaceae is a family of flowering plants that is not currently recognized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, but as of 2016 it is being used by many botanists as one of several small families that divide the Lamiales. Phylogenetic reconstruction has shown that divisions within the Lamiales are unsatisfactory, and a major revision is anticipated that will greatly alter the circumscriptions of the larger families and will temporarily bring widespread ambiguity. At present, there is no widely accepted phylogenetic classification of the Lamiales, and for the sake of clarity, some smaller families are widely used, including Buddlejaceae. The genera included in Buddlejaceae are assigned to Scrophulariaceae when Buddlejaceae is not recognized.
Phytolaccaceae is a family of flowering plants. Though almost universally recognized by taxonomists, its circumscription has varied. It is also known as the Pokeweed family.
Goodeniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asterales. It contains about 404 species in twelve genera. The family is distributed mostly in Australia, except for the genus Scaevola, which is pantropical. Its species are found across most of Australia, being especially common in arid and semi-arid climates.
Linderniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales, which consists of about 25 genera and 265 species occurring worldwide. Vandellia micrantha is eaten in Laos, but tastes bitter. Best known are the wishbone flowers Torenia fournieri and Torenia thouarsii, which are used as bedding plants, especially in the tropics. Micranthemum is sold as an aquarium plant when it is called 'baby tears'.
Veronicastrum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae. In some taxonomy systems, Veronicastrum species have been placed within the genus Veronica. The most commonly cultivated species is Veronicastrum virginicum, which is native to the Eastern parts of North America. Veronicastrum has previously been part of the family Scrophulariaceae. However, following recent genetic studies, several genera were transferred to other families including Veronicastrum, transferred to Plantaginaceae.
Stilbaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales.
Montiaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising about 14 genera with about 230 known species, ranging from small herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution.
Mazaceae is a family of plants in the order Lamiales. The family was described by James L. Reveal in 2011. Genera in this family were most recently previously included in Phrymaceae and in older classifications were placed in Scrophulariaceae.
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