SKULLCAP
Scutellaria laterifolia
COMMON NAMES: Blue skullcap, blue pimpernel, hoodwort, mad-dog weed, side flower, skullcap helmet
flower, American skullcap.
FEATURES: Indigenous to North America, this little herb is very abundant throughout the land, growing in
damp places, meadows, ditches, and by the sides of ponds from Connecticut south to Florida and Texas.
This small perennial, with fibrous yellow roots, has an erect and very branching square stem, 1–3 feet
in height. The tooth-edged leaves grow opposite each other on short stalks. It derives its common name
from the helmet-shaped upper lid of its small seedpods; the pale blue flowers bloom in pairs just above
the leaves in July and August.
The whole plant is medicinal and should be gathered while in flower, dried in the shade, and kept in
well-closed tin vessels, as it deteriorates rapidly from age and heat. Chemically it contains essential oil,
yellowish green fixed oil, a volatile matter, albumin, an astringent principle, lignin, chloride of soda, salts
of iron, silica, etc.
MEDICINAL PART: The whole herb.
SOLVENTS: Dilute alcohol, boiling water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Tonic, nervine, antispasmodic, slightly astringent.
USES: Skullcap, by its action through the cerebrospinal centers, is a most valuable remedy for controlling
nervous irritation. In many cases of hydrophobia it has been known to eventually render the patient free
from disturbances; also in cases of insomnia, excitability, restlessness, wakefulness, Saint Vitus’ dance,
hysteria, epilepsy convulsions, shaking palsy, rickets, bites of poisonous insects and snakes, and all
nervous affections. It supports the nerves, quietening and strengthening the system. It is also effective in
reducing temperature and inducing perspiration in feverish children.
Skullcap was known to the original inhabitants of the New World and country people as hoodwort or
mad-dog weed.
For persons troubled by undue sexual desires, skullcap taken freely and persistently will prove a most
efficient regulator without damage of any sort. When given with pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides) as a
tea it is successfully used as a female remedy for cramps and severe pain caused by suppressed
menstruation due to colds.
The following formulas have been proved effective by prominent herbalists and doctors of both the
past and present.
For weakness of the heart:
Tincture of skullcap (Scutellaria laterifolia) 3–15 drops
Tincture of goldenseal (Hydrostis conadensis), 7–10 drops
Tincture of cayenne pepper (Capsicum) 2–4 drops
In warm water as often as required.For irritable and nervous conditions: