Heart-leaved Skullcap

(Scutellaria ovata)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Hugh Wilson, Texas A&M University

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

 

Heart-leaved Skullcap (Scutellaria ovata)

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 margin of lip edged with white. Corolla tube bent upwards. Flowers arranged in terminal, branched racemes (loose spikes). Stem square. Leaves heart-shaped with base indented and outer margin heavily toothed. Plant 1 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to Ohio and Maryland in the east, southward to Florida and Texas.

Habitat: Heart-shaped Skullcap is found in woods, along riverbanks, particularly on limestone derived soils.

Flowering period: May to July.

Heart-leaved Skullcap (Scutellaria ovata)

Similar Species:

The combination on the heart-shaped leaves and typical Scutellaria flowers readily identify this species.

Similar Species

No Similar Species