About Scrophularia desertorum (Munz) R.J.Shaw
Scrophularia desertorum is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family, commonly called desert figwort. It is native to Nevada and eastern California, where it grows in dry areas of local mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent desert ranges. This perennial herb grows clusters of erect stems that often grow taller than one meter. Its leaves have toothed, triangular or lance-shaped blades up to 13 centimeters long, and are attached to petioles that reach up to 10 centimeters in length. The inflorescence is a wide-open panicle, with several hairy, glandular branches that hold the plant's flowers. Each flower has a spherical corolla that opens at the top into a hoodlike, lobed mouth. The corolla measures just under one centimeter long, is whitish at its base, and deep red around the mouth and on the lobes. The staminode is generally visible in the corolla's mouth. The fruit is a capsule just under a centimeter long that holds many seeds.