HEART-LEAVED SKULLCAP 



Scutellaria ovata Hill. 



June - July In tlio oak woods whore shade is deep in summer, there 

 Woods cr>iiu' two jjurpic llowers, the tall hellllower and the skull- 



cap. They do not schmu to need much sun in which to grow 

 tall and lilo.-.-oiii ahuiulantly all through the Imt. steamy days of late 

 siiiiuner. Then^ in the Illinois oak woods where the i!ios(|uitoes are violent 

 and the wood thrush nests on an overhanging hough, the intricate llowers 

 of skullca]) start to hlooni at the hase of the hud stalk and work their 

 way to the top. 



Skullcap is one of tlie mints hut it has no aromatic odor. It doe.s, 

 however, have the characteristic scjuarish stem and opposite leaves, and 

 is downy, the leaves veiny and scallop-to;)thed. Tlu' llower stalks spring 

 from the top of the stem and iiear many |)uri)le huds which elongate and 

 hurst open as tuhular. hright ]>ur|)le ancl whiti' llowei-s with droojiing lips. 



The calyx which enfolds the hase of tl'.e tuhe and contains the ovary 

 undergoes a certain change when the lh>wer has linished hlooming. and 

 it is this change which gave the name of Scutellaria to the skullcap — 

 scutella. meaning "little dish". For the seeds form in the transformed 

 caly.v which is like a. tiny dish with a lid. or a tight little hox holding 

 the developing seeds. When thesi- are rij)e and the pod is dry. it splits 

 its lid around where it is fastened and the .setnls fall out on the wind. 



Several other skulliaps are found in Illinois. ^lad-dog skullcap 

 {Scutellaria Jalrriflora) with its thin racemes of small hlue flowers is 

 found in swamps and wet places. Small skullc.i|) (SniltJhiria jxjriula) 

 is found in moist, cool places in wood> with a northward slope. 



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