Water figwort - Scrophularia auriculata

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Water figwort - Scrophularia auriculata
© Dr Chris Gibson/English Nature

Water figwort is a marginal plant with pointed, oval- toothed and evergreen leaves. The reddish-brown stems are sometimes downy in appearance and are square in cross-section. The whorls of small, two-lipped flowers are greenish with purple-brown upper lips. These are held in branched spikes. This is a plant of river banks, ditches and marshland and useful in a largish pond.

Like other wetland plants, water figwort offers resting places for aquatic winged insects such as caddis flies and alder flies. This plant is specifically wasp pollinated and a weevil, Cionus sp, feeds on the foliage. It also provides nectar and pollen for bumble bees.

. The fig part of the name has an unexpected origin, this being an old word for piles, which the plant was though to cure.

Animals

Buff-tailed bumble bee, Common wasp, Flies, Red-tailed bumble bee, Weevils, White-tailed bumble bee

Foliage	Green
Flower	Purple, June to October
Moisture	(Wet)
Sunlight	(Full sun)
Origin	Native