Scutellaria integrifolia Linnaeus. Common name: Narrowleaf Skullcap. Phenology: May-Jul; Jul-Aug. Habitat: Wet pine savannas, pine flatwoods, seeps in forests, bottomlands, other moist sites, ditches. Distribution: MA south to c. peninsular FL, west to e. TX, northward in the interior to OH, KY, and TN.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, Fl6, FNA, G, GW2, K4, NE, NY, Pa, S, Tat, Tn, Va, W, WH3, Collins (1976); > Scutellaria integrifolia L. var. hispida Benth. — F, RAB, Tx; > Scutellaria integrifolia L. var. integrifolia — F, RAB, Tx. Basionym: Scutellaria integrifolia L. 1753
Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
- Great Plains: FACW
- Midwest: FACW
- Northcentral & Northeast: FACW
Heliophily ⓘ: 7
Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.
© Bruce A. Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Scutellaria integrifolia, Lotts Creek floodplain, Montgomery County, Georgia 2 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Grant Morrow Parkins | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Bruce A. Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: scutellaria integrifolia, sansavilla wildlife management area, glynn county, georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Collectors SOS | Original Image ⭷
© Grant Morrow Parkins | Original Image ⭷Feedback
See something missing or incorrect about Scutellaria integrifolia? Let us know here:
- Please include your name and if possible, email in case when need to clarify what you wrote.
- If you opt out of including email, please be as specific as possible (e.g., which photo is incorrect?)
- Please do not submit questions asking to identify plants or about horticultural topics (e.g., how do I control an invasive plant in my garden?). Instead, those questions can be submitted here for the Carolinas region only.
- Please do not send us feedback about unkeyed species as this work is ongoing.
- Please allow time for flora edits to show in our next data release. We greatly appreciate your feedback but may require extra time to research complicated taxonomic issues.
Horticultural Information
Intro: Erect perennial growing in wet pine savannas, seeps in forests, bottomlands and other moist sites.
Stems: Stems single to many from a slightly woody base, 4-angled, with arched-ascending branches above, densely hairy.
Leaves: Leaves opposite, petiolate, lower ones oval or triangular-oval, upper ones lance-shaped to narrowly elliptic; with blunt to acute tips, toothed to entire margins and hairy.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers in a terminal raceme up to 8 in. long; bluish-purple; to 1 in. long; bilaterally symmetric; tubular, the corolla tube furry and with a hood-like upper lip arched above a spreading lower lip, which is slightly notched, convex, and marked by two white bands. As in all Scutellaria species, the calyx tube is 2-lobed, with a distinctive cap-like projection on the upper lobe.
Fruits:
Comments: A non-aromatic member of the mint family.
Height: 1-2 ft.
plant sale text: Large-flower skullcap produces short racemes of violet-blue flowers, each with a flaring lower lip, that bloom sporadically for several weeks. Each individual flower bears a passing resemblance to a skull, hence its common name. Large-flower skullcap grows in pine barrens and along roadsides throughout North Carolina. This species is tolerant of a range of growing conditions, including soil types that vary from moist to well-drained. Over time, it grows into a modest-sized clump. If you want more plants, do not cut its flowers and it is likely to self-seed.
bloom table text:
description: Erect perennial growing in wet pine savannas, seeps in forests, bottomlands and other moist sites.
stems: Stems single to many from a slightly woody base, 4-angled, with arched-ascending branches above, densely hairy.
leaves: Leaves opposite, petiolate, lower ones oval or triangular-oval, upper ones lance-shaped to narrowly elliptic; with blunt to acute tips, toothed to entire margins and hairy.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers in a terminal raceme up to 8 in. long; bluish-purple; to 1 in. long; bilaterally symmetric; tubular, the corolla tube furry and with a hood-like upper lip arched above a spreading lower lip, which is slightly notched, convex, and marked by two white bands. As in all Scutellaria species, the calyx tube is 2-lobed, with a distinctive cap-like projection on the upper lobe.
fruits:
comments: A non-aromatic member of the mint family.
cultural notes:
germination code: 2
native range: eastern United States
0 unsaved edits on this page.