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Benefits | Preparation | Medicinal Uses | Side Effects | Plant | Folklore |

Skullcap Scutellaria lateriflora
Scutellaria lateriflora
Robert H. Mohlenbrock @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA SCS. (1989).
Common Names
Skullcap , Virginian skull cap, mad-dog skull cap, scullcap
Botanical Name
Scutellaria lateriflora
Family
LAMIACEAE or LABIATAE Mint Family
Skullcap Medicinal Properties & Benefits
Alcoholism/Drug Abuse * Anxiety/Panic * Childbirth * Headache * Insomnia * Stop Smoking *
Parts Used: Leaves,stems and flowers
Constituents:Baicalein, baicalin, wogonin, wogonoside, neobaicalein, roxylin aglucurenoide, camphesterol, beta-sitosterol, and benzoic acid.
The chemistry of skullcap varies considerably between species, those who contain the compound scutellarin are the ones used in herbal medicine. The plant has been used for centuries by herbalists as an effective nerve tonic and sedative. Its common uses include relief of nervous tension, anxiety and nerve pain.
Skullcap Remedies
Prep Methods :Infusions, tincture, dried or fresh herb. Tinctures made from the fresh herb are the optimal choice. Teas should be drunk hot
remedy Remedies using Skullcap
Traditional Chinese Medicine
tradional chinese medicine

The root of a related species, Baikal skullcap(S.baicalensis) is used in traditional Chinese medicine to relieve colds, fever, high blood pressure and insomnia among other problems.

Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that skullcap is most useful for draining fire from the upper burner, for patterns of symptoms including high fever, irritability, thick mucus, or hot sores and swelling. The herb is used to dry dampness from the stomach or intestines, treating any kind of digestive upset that stifling the urge to drink fluids or causes inflammation of the urinary tract. Skullcap also treats the symptoms of emotional excess rising in the body to cause blushing, flushing, irritability, or headache. Mountain Rose Herbs (2008-07-012)

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referencesSkullcap Medicinal Uses & References
Anxiety and mood swings
It is useful for anxiety of all sorts, particularly for the anxiety and mood swings associated with hormonal swings, such as in PMS and menopause 593

(White,Linda B., M.D. )

Stop Smoking, anxiety
Skullcap is a sedative herb that can help alleviate the anxiety that sometimes accompanies giving up cigarettes. 680

(White,Linda B., M.D. )

Irritability, or headache
Skullcap also treats the symptoms of emotional excess "rising" in the body to cause blushing, flushing, irritability, or headache. 1007
Side Effects:
Avoid if pregnant. Safe in normal amounts, overdose can cause confusion and giddiness, possible seizures. Select a high-quality, reputable product with an assurance that it contains only Scutellaria. In the past, real scullcap was adulterated with Teucrium canadense, or pink scullcap.
Plant Description
  • Flowers:Blue, varying to whitish; several or many, 1 in. long, growing in axils of upper leaves or in 1 - sided spike-like racemes. Calyx 2-lipped, the upper lip with a helmet-like protuberance; corolla 2-lipped; the lower, 3-lobed lip spreading; the middle lobe larger than the side ones. Stamens, 4, in pairs, under the upper lip; upper pair the shorter; 1 pistil, the style unequally cleft in two.
  • Stem:Square, smooth, leafy, branched, 8 in. to 2 ft. high.
  • Leaves:Opposite, oblong to lance-shaped, thin, toothed, on slender pedicles, 1 to 3 in. long, growing gradually smaller toward top of stem.
  • Fruit: 4 nutlets.
  • Preferred Habitat:Wet, shady ground.
  • Flowering Season:July - September
  • Distribution:Uneven throughout United States and the British Possessions.

By the helmet-like appendage on the upper lip of the calyx, which to the imaginative mind of Linnaeus suggested Scutellum (a little dish), which children delight to spring open for a view of the four tiny seeds attached at the base when in fruit, one knows this to be a member of the skullcap tribe, a widely scattered genus of blue and violet two-lipped flowers.

Netje Blanchan Wild Flowers worth Knowing(1917)
Folklore, Myths and Legends
History and Traditions
history.The herb's first use as a cure and preventative of canine rabies has been disproved, but the common name mad-dog weed has persisted.
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Certified Organic Skullcap herb
Certified Organic Scullcap Extract
Certified Organic Skullcap herb capsules
(Scutellaria lateriflora) 350mg/100 capsules
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Typos: Annies Remedys, scullcap, skulcap