Mad-dog Skullcap

Order: Lamiales

Family: Lamiaceae

Genus: Scutellaria

Species: S. lateriflora

Identifying characteristics:

-1–2½' tall, branching occasionally

-stems: are light green to pale reddish-green, 4-angled, and hairless or sparsely canescent; they have a tendency to sprawl

- Leaves: The blades of the opposite leaves are up to 3" long and 2" across; they are cordate-ovate to broadly lanceolate, hairless,and coarsely serrated along the margins. On the upper surface of each leaf blade, there is a conspicuous network of veins. The petioles of the leaves are light green to pale reddish green, slender, and up to 1" long.

- Flowers: Both terminal and axillary racemes of flowers are produced by the upper stems. Each slender raceme is up to 6" long, consisting of about 6-7 pairs of flowers; the axillary racemes spread outward from their stems. Underneath each flower, there is a short leafy bract. Each flower is up to 1/3" in length, consisting of a tubular corolla and a tubular calyx. The corolla is pale blue, lavender, or white; it has short upper and lower lips. The lower is lip is often white, while the upper lip is often a slightly darker color.

Special Adaptations:

- The preference is light shade to full sun, wet to moist conditions, and soil with abundant organic matter. Shallow rocky or gravelly soil is tolerated if it retains moisture during dry spells

- Habitats include moist sedge meadows, openings in floodplain woodlands, soggy thickets, swamps, bogs, seeps and springs, edges of vernal pools and ponds, moist depressions in limestone glades, and shaded areas of cliffs. In wooded areas, this plant benefits from any disturbance that reduces the density of woody vegetation; it is typically found in partially shaded wetland areas.

- Mammalian herbivores and geese won't eat the foliage of this plant because of its bitter taste and mildly toxic properties.