Belongs to: flowers

Water figwort Scrophularia auriculata

A tall, slender perennial with small red-brown flowers in summer

Found in damp meadows and on ditch and pond banks

Common figwort looks similar, but lacks the wings along the angles of the square stems and grows in woodland rides

Has a long tradition of use as a cleansing herb and, like the related foxglove, for heart conditions

Flowers are visited by many bees and by wasps