Scutellaria galericulata
marsh skullcap

Alaska Wildflowers | Purple

Scutellaria galericulata
marsh skullcap

Common Names

marsh skullcap
hooded skullcap
scutellaire toque
grande toque
scutellaire à casque
scutellaire à grande fleur
tertianaire

Synonyms

Synonyms Listed by ITIS (none listed by VASCAN)
Scutellaria epilobifolia
Scutellaria galericulata ssp. pubescens
Scutellaria galericulata var. epilobifolia
Scutellaria galericulata var. pubescens*

Subspecies

Scutellaria galericulata var. pubescens (accepted subspecies by VASCAN, synonym by ITIS – also included in Hultén)

Genus: Scutellaria (skullcap)
Family: Lamiaceae (mint family)
Order: Lamiales
taxonomic heirarchy

Etymology

The genus name Scutellaria is derived from the Latin word scutella, meaning “a small dish” or “saucer.” It refers to the small, dish-shaped appendage on the calyx, a raised lid that sits atop the fruiting calyx and lifts away to release the nutlets. Linnaeus formalized the genus in 1753, published on page 599 of the second volume of Species Plantarum.

The species epithet galericulata is an adjective built from galericulum, a diminutive of galerum, the close-fitting leather helmet worn by Roman soldiers. The epithet likens the flower to a helmet after the hooded shape of its upper lip.

That helmet runs through the rest of the plant’s names. “Skullcap” is the plain-English version of the same idea, after the calyx lid’s resemblance to a medieval skullcap. The plant has at times been placed in a separate genus, Cassida, the Latin word for a helmet, and has been called helmet flower outright. “Marsh skullcap,” the name it usually goes by here, simply adds its habitat, the wet ground of shorelines, fens, and stream banks; it is also listed as common skullcap and hooded skullcap.

Duration – Growth Habit

Perennial – Forb/herb

Identification and Information

Vegetative Morphology:

Scutellaria galericulata, commonly known as marsh skullcap or hooded skullcap, is a purple-flowering perennial herb in the mint family that grows from a slender rhizome. The stems are erect, simple or branched, with stiff, downward-pointing hairs, and stand 20-80 cm tall. It has only stem leaves, which are oppositely arranged. The leaves are short-petioled, oblong-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, glabrous on top and hairy beneath, 2-5 cm long and 6-20 mm wide. The leaf margins may be entire or blunt-toothed.

Reproductive Morphology:

The flowers occur solitary or in pairs on the upper leaf axils on approximately 2 mm long stalks. The corolla is blue-violet, tubular, 12-20 mm long, and much longer than the calyx. The petals are fused into a two-lipped tube, where the shorter upper lip forms a hood over the three-lobed lower lip. The calyx tube (sepals) is also tubular, fused into two small lips with a raised bump on the upper lip, encasing the base of the corolla. The fruits are small, spherical, yellow, or brown nutlets in clusters of four.

Uses

For information only (typically historical) – I take no responsibility for adverse effects from the use of any plant.

Marsh skullcap has numerous traditional uses listed by the NAEB, including its application as a stomach stimulant and laxative by the Delaware tribe, as documented by Tantaquidgeon in 1942 and 1972. Additionally, the Ojibwa tribe used it for heart trouble, as recorded by Smith in 1932.

Distribution and Habitat

Map data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), NatureServe Explorer, and Kew

Scutellaria galericulata is widespread across the northern hemisphere, including Alaska, almost all of Canada, most of the US, nearly all of Europe, and northern Asia, extending as far south as Iran. It is notably absent from Greenland and Iceland.

As its name suggests, it is a marsh-dwelling species that lives on lake and stream edges, or shorelines, wet forests, and muskeg.

Classification

References and Further Reading

Guidebook

Johnson, D., Kershaw, L., & MacKinnon, A. (2020). Plants of the Western Forest: Alaska to Minnesota Boreal and Aspen Parkland (3rd ed., p. 163). Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1772130591.

Brandenburg, D. M. 2010. National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Wildflowers of North America. Sterling Publishing. (p. 285)

Classification and Taxonomy

Canadensys. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from Canadensys

ITIS. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata TSN 32798. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from ITIS

USDA PLANTS Database. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata (L.) L. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from USDA PLANTS

Uses

Native American Ethnobotany Database. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from NAEB

Map and Distribution

GBIF. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata L. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from GBIF

NatureServe Explorer. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from NatureServe Explorer

Plants of the World Online. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata L. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from POWO

iNaturalist. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from iNaturalist

Description and Information

E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from E-Flora BC

Hultén, E. (1968). Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories: A Manual of the Vascular Plants (1st ed.) (pg. 784). Stanford University Press.

Etymology

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata L., skullcap [Fermanagh species account]. https://bsbi.org/in-your-area/local-botany/co-fermanagh/fermanagh-species-accounts/scutellaria-galericulata-l (scutella and galericulum etymologies, citing Gilbert-Carter and Stearn)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (n.d.). Scutellaria galericulata L. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved August 26, 2026, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:458280-1 (galericulata “Latin for hooded”; Sp. Pl.: 599, 1753; Cassida synonymy)

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Scutellaria. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutellaria (scutella, “small dish, tray or platter”; skullcap common name from the calyx)

Linnaeus, C. (1753). Scutellaria galericulata. In Species Plantarum (Vol. 2, p. 599). Laurentius Salvius. (protologue; basis of the name Scutellaria galericulata L.)