 Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry.The Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains.The family name is based on the name of the included genus "Scrophularia" L.

In the past, it was treated as including about 275 genera and over 5,000 species, but its circumscription has been radically altered since numerous molecular phylogenies have shown the traditional broad circumscription to be grossly polyphyletic.