# Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) **Scutellaria*, Scullcap; Virginian Scullcap, Mad-dog Scullcap, Madweed (*S. lateriflora*); Common or Greater Scullcap, Helmet Flower, Hoodwort (*S. galericulata*); Lesser Scullcap (*S. minor*); French *Toque** **Known today as.** Virginian or American skullcap, *Scutellaria lateriflora*, a slender labiate with inconspicuous blue flowers in one-sided racemes, flowering in July; the whole herb is used. Not to be confused with Chinese skullcap, *Scutellaria baicalensis*, whose root is the source of baicalin and baicalein. Of about ninety species, Grieve counts two native to Britain, *S. galericulata* and *S. minor*, on the banks of rivers and lakes. Kind: Plant > **Caution.** Skullcap products have been adulterated with germander (*Teucrium*), which contains potentially liver-toxic diterpenes, and cases of liver injury have been reported; a 2024 editorial in the *World Journal of Hepatology* points to the significant death rate in skullcap-induced liver injury. Grieve warns that overdoses of the tincture cause giddiness, stupor, confusion, twitching of the limbs and an intermittent pulse. Not a treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome. ## What was it used for? “One of the finest nervines ever discovered,” Grieve calls the American herb: tonic, nervine and antispasmodic, and slightly astringent. It was given in hysteria, convulsions, hydrophobia, St. Vitus’s dance and rickets, in nervous headaches and neuralgia, and was suggested for epilepsy; the dried extract, one to three grains as a pill, relieved severe hiccough. The usual dose was an infusion of an ounce of the powdered herb to a pint of boiling water, half a teacupful every few hours. ## What does modern science say? Two small placebo-controlled trials of the American herb have been run. In 43 healthy volunteers, 350 mg three times a day for two weeks did not lower anxiety scores significantly against placebo, but overall mood disturbance fell on skullcap and not on placebo, without any fall in energy or cognition (Brock and colleagues, 2014). In 66 adults with mild to moderate primary insomnia, 400 mg a day of an extract for 56 days improved sleep quality and the sleep–wake measures, and no one reported side effects (Di Minno and colleagues, 2025). The research on polycystic ovary syndrome is all of Chinese skullcap, in animals and cells; it is set out below. ## What lore surrounds it? The name is from the Latin *scutella*, a little dish, after the lid of the calyx. When the flower falls, the upper lip of the calyx closes on the lower as if on a hinge, so that it looks like a capsule with a lid; when the seed is ripe the dry cup splits in two and lets it fall. “The only insect known to visit the first species,” Hooker wrote of the Greater Scullcap, “is a butterfly.” ## What did the older authorities say? **American popular use, as Grieve records.** Known as Mad-dog Scullcap or Madweed, “having the reputation of being a certain cure for hydrophobia.” **William Bramwell, as Grieve quotes him.** Writing in the *British Medical Journal* in 1915 on skullcap in epilepsy: “Its efficacy appears to be partly due to its stimulating the kidneys to increased activity.” **Grieve, of the English species.** *S. galericulata* was at one time given for the tertian ague, an ounce or two of the expressed juice or an infusion of a handful or two of the herb, and was said to help where the fits were more obstinate than violent; “in England, however, the remedy was not in use.” ## Sources - Grieve, M. *A Modern Herbal*, “Scullcaps.” As published on botanical.com. - Brock, C., Whitehouse, J., Tewfik, I., and Towell, T. (2014). “American skullcap (*Scutellaria lateriflora*): a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study of its effects on mood in healthy volunteers.” *Phytotherapy Research* 28: 692–698. doi:10.1002/ptr.5044. - Di Minno, A., Morone, M. V., Buccato, D. G., et al. (2025). “Efficacy and tolerability of a chemically characterized *Scutellaria lateriflora* L. extract-based food supplement for sleep management: a single-center, controlled, randomized, crossover, double-blind clinical trial.” *Nutrients* 17: 1491. doi:10.3390/nu17091491. - Lin, L. Z., Harnly, J. M., and Upton, R. (2009). “Comparison of the phenolic component profiles of skullcap (*Scutellaria lateriflora*) and germander (*Teucrium canadense* and *T. chamaedrys*), a potentially hepatotoxic adulterant.” *Phytochemical Analysis* 20: 298–306. doi:10.1002/pca.1127. - Sandasi, M., Vermaak, I., Chen, W., and Viljoen, A. M. (2014). “Skullcap and germander: preventing potential toxicity through the application of hyperspectral imaging and multivariate image analysis as a novel quality control method.” *Planta Medica* 80: 1329–1339. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1383037. - Soldera, J. (2024). “Insights into skullcap herb-induced liver injury.” *World Journal of Hepatology* 16: 120–122. doi:10.4254/wjh.v16.i2.120. - Wang, W., Zheng, J., Cui, N., et al. (2019). “Baicalin ameliorates polycystic ovary syndrome through AMP-activated protein kinase.” *Journal of Ovarian Research* 12: 109. doi:10.1186/s13048-019-0585-2. - Yu, J., Liu, Y., Zhang, D., et al. (2019). “Baicalin inhibits recruitment of GATA1 to the HSD3B2 promoter and reverses hyperandrogenism of PCOS.” *Journal of Endocrinology* 240: 497–507. doi:10.1530/JOE-18-0678. - Xu, X., Xu, X., Wang, X., and Shen, L. (2023). “Baicalin suppress the development of polycystic ovary syndrome via regulating the miR-874-3p/FOXO3 and miR-144/FOXO1 axis.” *Pharmaceutical Biology* 61: 878–885. doi:10.1080/13880209.2023.2208636. - Li, Y. Y., Peng, Y. Q., Yang, Y. X., et al. (2024). “Baicalein improves the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome by mitigating oxidative stress and ferroptosis in the ovary and gravid placenta.” *Phytomedicine* 128: 155423. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2024.155423. - Jin, B. H., Xu, H., Zhang, Z. Y., et al. (2025). “Baicalin mitigates polycystic ovary syndrome-associated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by inhibiting the AR/SREBP1 axis.” *International Journal of Molecular Medicine* 56: 189. doi:10.3892/ijmm.2025.5630. - Pan, Z., Zhang, C., Chu, Q., et al. (2026). “Targeting the gut-ovarian axis: *Scutellaria baicalensis* improves polycystic ovary syndrome by modulating gut microbiota composition and inhibiting the LPS/TLR4/NF- B signaling pathway.” *mSystems* 11: e0182525. doi:10.1128/msystems.01825-25. - Ye, J., Zhao, X., Cen, S., et al. (2026). “ZBP1-driven PANoptosis in granulosa cells mediates follicular arrest in PCOS: integrated transcriptomic evidence and baicalin’s therapeutic potential.” *Naunyn-Schmiedeberg’s Archives of Pharmacology*, online ahead of print. doi:10.1007/s00210-026-05689-9. --- *Skullcap.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-10. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/skullcap Historical description, not medical advice.