MINT FAMILY 



LABIATAE 



LITTLE SKULLCAP 



Scutellaria parvula Michx. 



The Little Skullcap is found in sandy or gravelly soil from 

 Quebec to Ontario and South Dakota, south to Florida and 

 Texas. It may be found in similar locations throughout Illinois. 



The plant is perennial by slender under- 

 ground stems which are thickened at in- 

 tervals into tubers. Aerial stems are very 

 slender, 3-12 inches high and usually 

 branched. This species varies considerably 

 in amount of hairiness and in leaf form. 

 Sometimes the plant is entirely smooth 

 and at others quite hairy; sometimes the 

 lower leaves may be toothed and petioled 

 instead of all being entire and sessile as 

 shown. T 



The flowers, blooming from April to 

 July, are solitary in the axils of the leaves. 

 The corolla is violet-blue and covered 

 outside with very short hairs. The 4 

 nutlets are very rough and very small. 



Another species not uncommon in wet 

 places is the Mad-dog Skullcap, Scutellaria 

 lateriflora L., which was formerly thought to 

 be useful in treating bites from mad dogs. 

 This is a small-flowered species which is usu- 

 ally entirely smooth. The square slender 

 stem is very leafy and 4-32 inches high. The 

 thin leaves vary from ovate to oblong or 

 lanceolate and are petioled. The flowers are 

 borne in leafy-bracted racemes both axillary 

 and terminal. The corollas are bluish, vary- 

 ing nearly to white. This species is distributed 

 from Quebec to Minnesota, south to New 

 Jersey, Florida and Texas. 

 One of the handsomest American species is the Showy Skullcap, 

 Scutellaria serrata Andr., which occurs in woods from southern New 

 York and Pennsylvania to North Carolina and west to Illinois and 

 Kentucky. It is confined to the Ozark area here. The slender, simple 

 or branched stem is 1-2 feet erect and nearly smooth. Large ovate- 

 elliptic, pointed leaf blades, strongly sharp toothed, are attached by 

 rounded or almost heart-shaped bases to slender petioles. The nearly 

 always simple and terminal racemes are loosely flowered, the flowers 

 paired. The blue, minutely downy corollas are i inch long and have 

 the rather narrow upper lip shorter than the lower. 



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