Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Lamiaceae - Common Skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata)

Common Skullcap

(Scutellaria galericulata)

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of B. Gliwa, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Scutellaria nervosa

Both Veined Skullcap and Smaller Skullcap have shorter and wider leaves.

Scutellaria parvula

Both Veined Skullcap and Smaller Skullcap have shorter and wider leaves.

Common Skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata)

Identification: Flowers tubular, narrow, violet. Upper petal a concave caplike structure with two smaller, lateral petal lobes. Bottom petal lobes fused into a downward hanging, bilobed lip. Lower, hanging petals striate with darker purple. Flower tube bent upward. Flowers solitary, arising from the leaf axils. Stem square. Leaves elongate, nearly flush with the stem, and with a toothed outer margin. Plant 1 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout North America except for the southeastern United States. Also occurs in Europe and northern Asia.

Habitat: Common Skullcap is found along the shores of lakes and rivers, in meadows, and swampy thickets.

Flowering period: June to September.

Comments: This species is sometimes referred to as Scutellaria epilobiifolia.

Common Skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata)

Similar Species:

Two other species of Scutellaria have solitary flowers in the leaf axils.

Veined Skullcap (Scutellaria nervosa)

Smaller Skullcap (Scutellaria parvula)

Similar Species