Skullcap

Species name:  Scutellaria lateriflora.

Also known as: maddog skullcap, Blue Skullcap, Common Scullcap, Hairy Skullcap, Hooded Skullcap, Helmet Flower, Hoodwort.

Do you need Skullcap? Can this funny-sounding herb help you with a common condition you are facing?

What is Skullcap?: It is a native North American perennial herb, found from New York to West Virginia and southward to South Carolina, Alabama and Missouri. It traditionally grows in rich woods, thickets, bluffs and along roadsides.  The root is a creeping short rhizome, which sends up hairy, square stems, 6 to 18 inches high, branched, or, in small specimens, nearly simple, with opposite downy leaves, heart-shaped at the base, 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches long, scalloped or toothed edges. The blue to lavender flowers are in racemes and grow from the leaf axils of the upper plant. They are hooded, tube shaped, and two lipped the upper lip being the hood and the lower lip having two shallow lobes.

Home Remedies using Skullcap:

Benefits of Skullcap:

This herb has made a name for itself in Native American folklore. It was commonly used among the Cherokee and other Native American tribes as a strong emmenagogue and female medicinal herb. Some tribes used it as a ceremonial plant to introduce young girls into womanhood. Once believed of use in the treatment of rabies and schizophrenia, it is also used to induce visions in the Native Americans.

Today, it is commonly used to help treat many conditions and disorders such as muscles spasms and nerve disorders. It helps with anxiety and calming of the nerves. It is also used to help treat the eating disorder anorexia nervosa and to help with fibromyalgia. It has even been used in Chinese medicine to help with cancer treatment and some seizure disorders.

Uses of Skullcap:

• Treatment of muscle spasms
• Calming of the nerves
• Tension headache
• Anorexia nervosa
• Anxiety
• Fibromyalgia
• Restless leg syndrome and other causes of insomnia
• Mild Tourette's syndrome (a disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics)
• Seizure disorders.
• Cancer treatment
• Skullcap is available in dried form as teas, capsules, tablets, and tinctures.
• Tea - To 1 oz. of the powdered herb add a pint of boiling water, steep 10 min. give in 1/2 teacup doses, every few hours.

Side Effects of Skullcap:

Overdose of skullcap tincture produces giddiness, stupor, mental confusion, twitching, irregular heartbeat, and epileptic-like symptoms. Skullcap should not be used during pregnancy and breastfeeding.