In this survey, anatomical characteristics of leaves in 35 populations belonging to 18 taxa of Scrophularia have been studied. Among 39 quantitative and qualitative anatomical characters, some have more suitable taxonomic value for differentiation of taxa, such as blade thickness, thickness of upper and lower cuticle of midrib, length of upper and lower palisade parenchyma of blade, thickness of lower epidermis wall of midrib, thickness of upper and lower epidermis of blade, rows of spongy parenchyma of blade, upper collenchyma type of midrib and the presence of idioblast. Finally, comparison of the results of the current study together with Grau’s (1981) results confirm the validity of 4 groups out of the 12 groups which he had introduced. As for the remaining groups, no noticeable concordance was found.

During the taxonomic revision of the genus Glaucium, G. contortuplicatum var. hirsutum is described as a new variety. This taxon differs from the type variety by having dense and appressed trichomes all along ovary (or junior silique). Leaf epidermis micro-characters of these two taxa are also compared. G. leiocarpum and G. elegans var. integerrima are reduced to synonymy of G. flavum and G. elegans var. elegans, respectively. Additionally, morphological characters and geographical distribution of the taxa studied in the world and in Iran are presented.