Skullcap 50 grams: Scutellaria lateriflora, the American species
Scutellaria lateriflora is a perennial of the mint family, related to mint and sage, and the square stem gives that away at once. The plant reaches some sixty to eighty centimetres and looks for wet ground: marshes, damp meadows, stream banks and swamp forest across North America. Its flowers stay small, under a centimetre, blue-violet to white, and they sit conspicuously along one side of the raceme. That is exactly where the species name comes from: lateriflora means flowering on the side. The genus name goes back to the Latin scutella, a little dish or tray, after the shape of the calyx in fruit. That calyx resembles a small helmet, which is how the plant earned the name skullcap.
Herbal tradition works with the aerial parts: leaf, stem and flower together, harvested while the plant is in bloom. North American nations knew the plant long before the colonists did; Cherokee women used it around menstruation. In 1773 the herb came into use in North America against the symptoms of rabies, which explains the nickname mad dog skullcap. By 1785 the species had a place in the first American materia medica, and during the nineteenth century British herbal physicians carried it across to Europe. Chemically, baicalein and wogonin are the principal phenolics found in leaf, stem and root.
Content, species purity and use
This bag holds 50 grams of dried herb. With skullcap, always check the botanical name: in the trade Scutellaria lateriflora is regularly confused or mixed with Chinese skullcap, Scutellaria baicalensis, a different species with a quite different make-up. What you buy here is the American species. The usual preparation is an infusion of roughly one to two grams per cup: hot water over the herb, a few minutes of steeping, then strain. Store the bag closed, cool, dry and dark. Skullcap is a herb and no substitute for anything else. If you take medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, speak to your doctor or pharmacist first.
About the herbs at Avalon
At Avalon Magic Plants skullcap sits with the relaxing herbs, next to Valerian 50 gram (Valeriana officinalis), Passion flower 20 grams (Passiflora incarnata) and Mulungu 50 g (Erythrina mulungu). If you prefer a liquid form, have a look at the 1:1 herbal tinctures in 10 ml bottles with a dropper, such as Valeriana officinalis or Passiflora incarnata. Every order leaves our warehouse discreetly packed.
