Skullcap, Scutellaria lateriflora, is a blue-flowered perennial native from Canada through much of the United States. It favors damp woods, stream banks, marshes and wet meadows. In the Southern Appalachian homeland of the Cherokee, historical records include skullcap root infusions and decoction in women’s medicine for breast pain and to help expel the afterbirth.

Dried skullcap herb is commonly brewed as tea or prepared as a tincture, glycerite or herbal elixir. Modern herbalists continue its long nervine tradition. Rosemary Gladstar includes skullcap among relaxing, fortifying herbs for the nervous system, while Matthew Wood describes it for the restless, overactive mind. Skullcap remains a useful herb for the home apothecary when the day feels too loud—used alone or blended into an evening tea.         4 oz. – $23.00

Resources

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Plants of the World Online: Scutellaria lateriflora L. National Park Service. “Cherokee,” documenting the Cherokee people’s deep ancestral ties to the Southern Appalachian region. American Botanical Council. “Skullcap,” including Cherokee and early American herbal history. -Southern Cross University. Scutellaria lateriflora medicinal plant monograph -Michael Moore. Herbal Materia Medica, skullcap preparations. Rosemary Gladstar. The Science & Art of Herbalism, important herbal nervines -Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism. “Herbs for Heartbreak.”