Skullcap
Scutellaria lateriflora L.Lamiaceae // aerial parts
Overview
Plant parts
aerial parts
Known constituents
flavonoids including baicalin-related compounds, diterpenes
Research corpus coverage
Chemistry notes
- CHEMISTRY: Relevant reported constituents include flavonoids including baicalin-related compounds; diterpenes; constituent presence alone does not establish clinical efficacy.
Uses & Evidence
Traditional / historical use
Documented traditional use — not a claim of established efficacy.
TRADITIONAL: Skullcap has been used for anxiety; sleep; this records historical/traditional use and does not establish efficacy.
MODERATE · regulatory monograph · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries
Modern evidence
EVIDENCE: For the major use set (anxiety; sleep), the evidence assessment is insufficient: Insufficient clinical evidence.
LOW · regulatory monograph and mixed scientific literature · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries
Preparation
Forms used traditionally
A listed form does not imply it suits every plant part, or that one preparation is interchangeable with another — see the plant’s own notes below.
PREPARATION: The medicinal material is aerial parts; traditional and modern forms include infusion/tea, tincture, powder/capsule, extract. No dose or potency is specified.
MODERATE · regulatory monograph · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries
Preparation-specific evidence should not be generalized across extracts, teas, oils, or whole herb.
Safety
Additional safety notes (general, unstructured)
Free-text safety notes carried from their source — not broken out by species, route, or hazard type, and not equivalent to the structured records above. Each note names the kind of source it came from.
SAFETY: Major issues include Drowsiness; liver injury reports often involve adulteration or mixtures. Contraindications/cautions include Liver disease.
HIGH · observational/case series and expert review · LiverTox: Herbal and Dietary Supplements
American skullcap is often confused/adulterated with germander (Teucrium), a hepatotoxic genus; Chinese skullcap is S. baicalensis.
SAFETY: Clinically relevant interaction concerns include Additive sedation; hepatotoxic-drug caution.
MODERATE · observational/case series and expert review · LiverTox: Herbal and Dietary Supplements
Some interactions are theoretical or based on case reports/pharmacokinetics rather than outcome trials.
SAFETY: Pregnancy/lactation reference: Insufficient pregnancy/lactation evidence.
MODERATE · regulatory monograph or evidence synthesis · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries
Absence of evidence is not evidence of safety.
Preparation × species risk matrix
Unknown means insufficient evidence was located — not that a form is safe.
Cats
- tinctureCaution
- concentrated extractUnknown
- essential oilUnknown
- glyceriteUnknown
- infused oilUnknown
- salveUnknown
- smoke/combustionUnknown
- tea/infusionUnknown
- whole herbUnknown
Dogs
- tinctureCaution
- concentrated extractUnknown
- essential oilUnknown
- glyceriteUnknown
- infused oilUnknown
- salveUnknown
- smoke/combustionUnknown
- tea/infusionUnknown
- whole herbUnknown
Identity
- Possible adulterantCanada germander
Canada germander has been documented as an intentional or accidental adulterant of American skullcap.
Why it matters: Teucrium adulteration is potentially hepatotoxic and may wrongly implicate skullcap in liver injury.
HIGH · Skullcap and germander: preventing potential toxicity through hyperspectral imaging
- Possible adulterantWall germander
Wall germander has been documented as an intentional or accidental adulterant of American skullcap.
Why it matters: Teucrium adulteration is potentially hepatotoxic and may wrongly implicate skullcap in liver injury.
HIGH · Skullcap and germander: preventing potential toxicity through hyperspectral imaging
- Related, not interchangeableChinese skullcap
American and Chinese skullcap are distinct materia medica taxa and have appeared substituted for one another in products.
HIGH · Chemical Authentication of Botanical Ingredients: A Review of Commercial Herbal Products
- Synonym
GBIF resolves Cassida lateriflora (L.) Moench as a synonym of Scutellaria lateriflora. The older name still appears in herbal and taxonomic literature.
HIGH · GBIF Species Match API
Botanical synonym
Cassida lateriflora (L.) Moench
Taxonomic identity note
- Skullcap is treated here as Scutellaria lateriflora L. in the family Lamiaceae; recorded older names include Cassida lateriflora (L.) Moench.
Sources
Research records are source-linked but may not yet be editorially reviewed.
EMA monograph
NIH LiverTox monograph
peer-reviewed pharmacognosy paper
- Plants of the World Online1 claim
botanical taxonomy database
WHO monograph
- GBIF Species Match API1 claim
authoritative taxonomic database
peer-reviewed authentication review