Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Scrophularia nodosa
Pronounced Figwort: FIG-wort. Scrophularia nodosa: skrof-yoo-LAIR-ee-uh noh-DOH-suh.
Cool, dry, and bitter: a stimulating alterative and lymphatic that drains damp, congested lymph, cools hot eruptive skin, and disperses scrofulous nodules, with a cardioactive edge that demands caution.
On temperature, Salmon (1710) reads it as warm. The app keeps cool, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.
Avoid. There is not enough reliable information to establish safety in pregnancy, and figwort's cardioactive glycosides argue against medicinal use; standard guidance is to avoid it during pregnancy. Source: NCCIH/WebMD consumer safety summary (insufficient reliable data; avoid); Mills and Bone precautionary principle for cardioactive-glycoside-containing herbs.
Avoid. Safety during lactation has not been established and no adequate data exist for the nursing infant; the cardioactive-glycoside content makes precaution appropriate. Source: NCCIH/WebMD consumer safety summary (insufficient reliable data; avoid).
Not established for internal use in children. No pediatric safety data exist, and the cardioactive-glycoside and mild laxative-diuretic activity make internal use inappropriate without professional guidance. Dilute topical application to intact skin for wounds or bruises is traditionally regarded as low risk. Source: NCCIH/WebMD consumer safety summary (insufficient data).
Figwort contains cardioactive glycosides and increases the force of myocardial contraction, so it must be avoided in ventricular tachycardia and used only with professional guidance in any heart-rhythm disorder. It has a mild laxative and diuretic action; large doses can cause diarrhea, nausea, or excess urination and potassium loss. As a cooling, drying, draining alterative it does not suit cold, dry, deficient, or exhausted constitutions. Reserve internal use for practitioner guidance.
Ventricular tachycardia and other cardiac arrhythmias; concurrent digitalis, digoxin, or other cardioactive-glycoside or antiarrhythmic therapy; and a pacemaker or unstable heart rate. Pregnancy and lactation (see safety fields). Use cautiously in cold, deficient digestion and in anyone on lithium or potassium-depleting diuretics.
Common and often weedy across Europe, the British Isles, and temperate Asia, and naturalized in North America; not at risk and not on the United Plant Savers list. A plant of damp woods, ditches, and hedge banks; wildcraft the aerial parts sustainably in flower, or grow it easily from seed. Distinguish it carefully from water figwort (Scrophularia auriculata) and other Scrophularia species when wildcrafting.
Not named in the canonical biblical texts; native to Europe and temperate Asia (a hedgerow and damp-woodland plant of the British and European flora). Its medicinal identity is European folk and Eclectic: the names Figwort, Knotted Figwort, and Throatwort, and the genus name Scrophularia, record its Doctrine-of-Signatures reputation for scrofula (King's Evil) and for hemorrhoidal figs. Culpeper (1653) treated Figwort (Throatwort) as a wound and scrofula herb under the dominion of Venus.
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