Stems erect, to 3 m, glabrous below, sparsely glandular in the infl, the sides, especially in older parts, roundly angled and prominently grooved; petioles slender, not margined, 1.5-5 cm, the main ones mostly a third to half as long as the blade; blades ovate to lance-ovate, to 25 cm, acuminate, serrate, broadly rounded to shallowly cordate at base; infl loosely and irregularly branched, tending to be pyramidal, often 10-15 cm wide; cor 5-8 mm, reddish-brown; sterile stamen dark purple or brown, narrowly dilated, commonly longer than wide; fr 4-7 mm, somewhat shining; 2n=ca 86. Open woods; Que. to Minn., s. to S.C. and La. July, Aug., the period rarely overlapping that of no. 1. (S. neglecta) [Scrophularia lanceolata Pursh]
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
Frequent throughout the state. It is usually found in open woodland in moist or dry soils of varying fertility. Sometimes it is found along roadsides and in fallow fields. The leaves of this species vary from essentially glabrous to densely pubescent. For the convenience of those who wish to recognize the extremely pubescent form by a name, Pennell has called it f. neglecta (Rydb.) Pennell. I have this form from Clark, Gibson, and Knox Counties.