Scrophularia desertorum

Desert figwort

Family: Scrophulariaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Desert figwort is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions on dry rocky slopes, in crevices, among boulders, and gravelly washes at elevations of 850 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from April to August, this plant produces distinctive maroon and cream flowers with pink edges, approximately 7 to 9 millimeters long with a slightly constricted mouth. Growing with robust stems 70 to 120 centimeters tall that are glandular-puberulent and generally curved upward, it develops an impressive height in its rocky habitats. Its leaves are yellow to gray-green, with larger blades 4 to 8 centimeters long, featuring a wedge-shaped base that narrows toward the petiole. The plant's calyx lobes are small, triangular-ovate, and green, with acute to rounded tips that have scarious margins.

Habitat: dry rocky slopes, generally in crevices, among boulders, canyons, gravelly washes

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: 850-3000 m

Bioregions: SN, GB, DMoj

California counties: Tulare, Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino, Lassen, Amador, Kern, Siskiyou, Plumas, El Dorado, Tuolumne, Modoc, Shasta, Los Angeles, Sierra, Alpine

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.