Alternative names: Not Applicable

Description:
Annual or perennial erect to creeping herbs, rarely shrubs, free-living or semiparasitic, often with sessile glands; leaves alternate, opposite or whorled or clustered; stipules 0.

Flowers bisexual, usually in racemes or spikes, rarely scattered, 1 to several in axils of leaf-like or reduced bracts; calyx persistent, 3-5-lobed or 4- or 5-sect; corolla 2-lipped or more or less regular, 3-5-lobed, the area behind the lower lobes forming 1 or 2 upward swellings (the palate) which often inhibit entry to the mouth, sometimes with a spur at the base of the tube; stamens rarely 5, usually 4, in pairs of unequal length, or 2, with or without staminodes, epipetalous, the anthers 2- or 1-celled; ovary superior, 2-celled, the style 1, terminal, with a simple or 2-lobed stigma, with ovules many, rarely 2 or 1 in each cell, with a septum in lateral plane and placentation axile or (Limosella) free-central.

Fruit, either a septicidal and/or loculicidal capsule, splitting usually from the apex, sometimes from the base, or consisting of 2 1-seeded nutlets (cocci).

Distribution:  Of the 12 tribes usually recognised in the family only 7 are present in Australia, 5 containing native genera. The tribes are traditionally grouped in 2 subfamilies. The Scrophularioideae (syn. Antirrhinoideae) are free-living herbs with the upper corolla lip external and overlapping the lower lip in bud; the subfamily encompasses the first 5 tribes. The Rhinanthoideae are free-living or, in more advanced tribes, semiparasitic, with the lateral corolla lobes overlapping the upper in bud, and contained the last 2 tribes treated.

Biology: No text

Taxonomic notes: All measurements are taken from dried specimens. Corolla spurs are measured from their apex to the base of the corolla at the level of the ovary. Pedicels and calyx are measured in flowers unless otherwise stated; they frequently elongate as the fruit develops.

Key to Genera:

1. Calyx not surrounding the flower, consisting of 2 sepals; bracteoles absent; corolla with upper lip 4-lobed, lower lip lacking; fruit consisting of 2 1-seeded cocci	DISCHISMA 10.
1. Calyx surrounding the flower, consisting of 3-5 sepals; bracteoles present or absent; corolla always lobed on the lower side; fruit a several- to many-seeded capsule
2. Bracteoles present; sepals free for more than half their length, rarely (Mazus) for about half their length
3. Fertile stamens 4; corolla distinctly 2-lipped, blue to purple rarely white
4. Bracteoles alternate, borne on the pedicel well below the calyx; anther cells contiguous at the apex; leaves radical; capsule loculicidal	MAZUS 4.
4. Bracteoles opposite, borne immediately below the calyx; anther cells separate; leaves cauline; capsule septicidal	STEMODIA 7.
3. Fertile stamens 2; corolla lobes 5, more or less equal, pale-pink to purple or white; anther cells separate; capsule septicidal and loculicidal	GRATIOLA 2.
2. Bracteoles absent
5. Sepals free for more than half their length
6. Anthers 2; sepals 4 or 5; corolla 4- or 5-lobed, blue, pink or white, short-tubed; leaves opposite (flowers alternate)
7. Shrubs; capsules septicidal and sometimes incompletely loculicidal; leaves sessile, 1-14.5 cm long; style 4-5 mm long	PARAHEBE 15.
7. Annual or perennial herbs; capsules loculicidal and some-times incompletely septicidal; leaves sessile or petiolate,with a blade 0.3-3 cm long, if longer then semi-aquatic with hollow stems and style 1-1.3 mm long	VERONICA 16.
6. Anthers 4 or 5; sepals 5 or calyx 2-lipped; corolla 5-lobed, if short-tubed then yellow; leaves alternate at least in the upper parts, rarely (Misopates) opposite throughout
8. Corolla mouth closed by a palate on the lower side; the base of the tube spurred or swollen on the lower side
9. Corolla tube swollen at the base; capsule asymmetrical, with the base of the lower cell wholly in front of the pedicel	MISOPATES 14.
9. Corolla tube spurred at the base; capsule symmetrical at the base
10. Leaf blades reniform to semicircular, with 5-9 rounded to triangular lobes, palmately veined; capsule dehiscing by irregular longitudinal slits	CYMBALARIA 12.
10. Leaf blades entire or with a pair of large basal lobes or with 1, rarely 2, pairs of basal teeth, pinnately veined; capsule dehiscing by pores opening by a detachable lid	KICKXIA 13.
8. Corolla mouth open, with or without a palate, the base of the tube symmetrical, straight
11. Corolla tiny, 3-4 mm long, tubular, with limb c. 2 mm diam.; small annual; inflorescences terminal, dense, broadly ovoid heads	POLYCARENA 8.
11. Corolla showy, short-tubed, rotate, over 5 mm long and c. 12 mm diam.; large biennials; inflorescences long terminal spikes	VERBASCUM 11.
5. Sepals fused for more than half their length; leaves opposite or alternate
12. Leaves densely clustered, their arrangement obscure
13. Calyx smooth, 3- or 4-lobed; stamens 4 or 2; stigma a broad flap; capsule loculicidal	GLOSSOSTIGMA 1.
13. Calyx 5-angled, 5-lobed, in depauperate plants rarely 3-merous; stamens 4; stigma obscurely 2-lobed, subcapitate; capsule septifragal	LIMOSELLA 3.
12. Leaves spaced along the branches
14. Leaves alternate at least in upper parts; calyx equally or unequally 5-toothed or 2-lipped by fusion of teeth, fused to the bract
15. Calyx 5-lobed with 3-lobed and 2-lobed segments; corolla salverform, the slender tube 16 - 20 mm long, twice the length of the calyx; upper pair of anthers small, circular, the lower pair larger, oblong	ZALUZIANSKYA 9.
15. Calyx 5-toothed or with 2 entire lips; corolla more or less 2-lipped, the tube 3-4 mm long, less than twice the length of the calyx; both pairs of anthers of same shape	POLYCARENA 8.
14. Leaves opposite
16. Calyx equally 5-toothed or unequally 3- or 4-toothed; anthers 1- or 2-celled; stigmas 1 or 2, flap-like; leaves with scattered, sometimes obscure, sessile glands; roots without nodules
17. Branches erect to ascending; bases of opposite leaves quite separate; leaves serrate or entire	MIMULUS 5.
17. Branches prostrate, rooting at the nodes; bases of opposing leaves linked by a narrow flange; leaves entire
18. Stamens 4; anthers 2-celled; stigmas 2	MIMULUS 5.
18. Stamens 4 or 2; anthers l-celled; stigma 1 broad flap, with a vestige of second flap at the base
19. Calyx 5-angled, equally 5-toothed	PEPLIDIUM 6.
19. Calyx smooth, with 3 or 4 unequal teeth	GLOSSOSTIGMA 1.
16. Calyx equally 4-toothed (the clefts between sometimes unequal); anthers 2-celled; stigma capitate or obscurely 2-lobed; leaves with patches of sessile glands between or along veinlets on the lower side; roots bearing nodular parasitic connections (haustoria)
20. Upper corolla lobes recurved; rearmost pair of anther awns longer than the other 6 awns; seeds longitudinally ribbed, scalariform between; perennial or annual	EUPHRASIA 18.
20. Upper corolla lobes directed forward; anther awns equal; seeds smooth or reticulate, or longitudinally ribbed, scalariform between; annual
21. Capsule globular; seeds longitudinally ribbed, scalariform between, 0.6-71 mm long	BELLARDIA 17.
21. Capsule oblong; seeds smooth or finely reticulate, 0.25-0.45 mm long	PARENTUCELLIA 19.

Author: Prepared by W. R. Barker