Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

EGG-LEAF SKULLCAP

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Scutellaria ovata Hill

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 12-32 inches

Family: Lamiaceae - Mint Family

Flowering Period: June, July

Stems:

Ascending to erect, square in cross section, branched above, densely glandular-pubescent.

Leaves:

Cauline, opposite, simple: petiole .2 to 2 inches; blade cordate to narrowly ovate or triangular-ovate, 2 to 3.6 inches long, .8 to 2.4 inches wide, base cordate, margins crenate to coarsely serrate, tip obtuse to acute, surfaces densely glandular-pubescent.

Inflorescences:

Racemes, terminal; bracts broadly ovate to ovate.

Flowers:

Calyx 1/8 to 1/6 inch; corolla blue, 3/5 to 1 inch, strongly 2-lipped, lower lip with white patches, 3-lobed, medial lobe much larger than lateral lobes, upper lip entire or notched, hood-like; stamens 4, included, ascending under upper lip, filaments slightly arched; style 1, appearing basal or medial; stigmas 2.

Fruits:

Mericarps 4, dark brown to black, 1/20 to 1/16 inch, uniformly tuberculate; seeds 1 per mericarp.

Habitat:

Oak-hickory forests and woodlands, often in sandy soil

Distribution:

Eastern tier of counties plus Chautauqua County

Origin:

Native

Comments:

Scutellaria, dish, alluding to the cap or protuberance on the calyx.

Egg-leaf skullcap