Skullcap
 

Scutellaria lateriflora

Known as Mad-dog skullcap because the tea was once used as a folk remedy for rabies.  The debate over the effectiveness of this plant was long running though, as it was listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1863 to 1916, and in the national Formulary from 1916 to 1947, but the U.S. Dispensatory states that skullcap is destitute of medicinal properties.  There are eight species of skullcap found throughout the Prairie Bioregion.  The Mesquakies used the small skullcap, S. parvula in treatment of diarrhea.  This plant is enjoying renewed interest from herbalists as a tincture for the treatment of nervous disorders.

Family:  Mint/Lamiaceae
Life cycle: perennial; herbaceous (Zones 4-8)
Native:  Native to N. America, found in rich woods, moist thickets, and along stream banks.
Height: 1-3 feet.
Sun:  Full sun or partial shade.
Soil: Prefers well-drained, but moist soil.  Will respond to fertility.
Water:   Moderate.  Though prefers moist sites in the wild, it survived in our dryland non-irrigated field sites.  Responds to irrigation with increased growth.
Flowers:  Violet, blue, hooded, lipped, from May - Sept.  Beware of this plants’ ability to spread before putting in your flower garden.
Propagation:  Stratify seeds for at least 1 week before sowing.  sow indoors and look for germination in about 2 weeks.  Transplant outside after danger of frost.  This herb will grow in clumps, space 12 inches apart in the row.  Can also propagate with cuttings or root divisions.  Plants will begin to spread, once in the established in the field.  Difficult to weed mechanically later on, due to the clumpiness of the plants.
Pests:   No major pests noted in the field or in the literature.
Harvesting:  Aerial parts are harvested when the herb is in full flower.  Harvest about 3 inches above the ground.
Parts used:  Aerial parts.
Used as:  Tincture, tea, liniment.
Medicinal Benefits:  Strong tea traditionally used as a sedative, nerve tonic, and antispasmodic for all types of nervous conditions, including epilepsy, insomnia, anxiety, and neuralgia.  Scutellarin, a flavonoid compound in the plant, has confirmed sedative and antispasmodic qualities.
Market Potential:  High.  Prices range from $16.00 - $64.00.  This is an herb with a fairly high “low-end” price, perhaps because it isn’t competing yet with imports from Asia or Eastern Europe?

KSU Field Trial Data - 2000-2002.  

Summary of field trial data:  Skullcap did relatively well under field conditions, and was tested in replicated plots at 4 locations (Wichita, Hays, Olathe and Colby), with average survival the first year of 88.5% and a vigor rating of 3.8.  The lowest vigor rating was at Hays, with a 3.0, which represented the harshest field conditions in terms of dry weather, wind, and no irrigation.  The lowest biomass harvest was also obtained at Hays (see Appendix C for details).  For a woodland, water loving plant, this was an amazingly hardy field herb.  Given the current high value in the market, and ease of harvest (this is an above-ground herb), we would recommend trying this as a field crop.  Preliminary observation of this plant in year 2 are that we had fairly good winter survival, and higher yields in the second year than the first.  The only reason that only first year data is presented here is that we didn’t put this plant in the screening trials until 2002, and we are still collecting data on the 2003 yields.