Blue Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)
- Family: Mint (Lamiaceae)
- Flowering: July-October.
- Field Marks: Skullcaps differ from all other mints by the swelling on the calyx. This species differs from all other species in the genus by its slender racemes, usually smooth stems, and flowers about 1/4 inch long.
- Habitat: Low woods, swamps, along rivers and streams.
- Habit: Perennial herb with slender rhizomes.
- Stems: Erect, usually branched, smooth or slightly hairy, 4-sided, up to 2 feet tall.
- Leaves: Opposite, simple, lanceolate to ovate, pointed at the tip, rounded at the base, toothed, smooth or slightly hairy, up to 3 inches long.
- Flowers: Several in racemes from the axils of the leaves, blue, a little more than 1/4 inch long, bilaterally symmetrical.
- Sepals: 5, green, united below, with a swelling on the united part.
- Petals: 5, blue, 2-lipped; the upper lip 2-lobed; the lower lip 3-lobed.
- Stamens: 4.
- Pistils: Ovary superior, 4-parted.
- Fruits: Nutlets very small, smooth.
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