Small skullcap

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Small skullcap leaves

Small skullcap flowers

Small skullcap

Small skullcap

Small skullcap flowers

Small skullcap

Small skullcap

Morphology

Stem

Ascending to erect, simple or branched distally, glabrous or sparsely to densely eglandular-pubescent and sometimes with longer glandular hairs.

Leaves

Cauline; mostly opposite; petiole 0-.5 inch; blade cordate to broadly ovate or lanceolate, .3 to .6 inch long, .12 to .66 inch wide, base cordate to rounded or truncate, margins entire, rarely with 1-2 teeth per side, apex rounded or acute, surfaces glabrous or sparsely to densely glandular-pubescent.

Inflorescence

Axillary, flowers 1-2 per node; bracts ovate to lanceolate.

Flower

Calyx bilaterally symmetric, 2-lipped, campanulate, .08 to .14 inch, with distinct adaxial cap or protuberance; corolla blue with white-mottled abaxial lip, .28 to .5 inch, strongly 2-lipped, abaxial lip 3-lobed, medial lobe much larger than lateral lobes, adaxial lip entire or notched, hood-like; stamens 4, included, ascending under adaxial lip, filaments slightly arched; ovary deeply 4-lobed.

Fruit

Schizocarps; mericarps 4, dark brown to black, obovoid to globose, .03 to .05 inch, prominently papillose in lines; seeds 1 per mericarp.

Ecology

Habitat

Tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies, rock outcrops, open oak-hickory woodlands.

Distribution

Principally the east half of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans used small skullcap to treat dysentery

Additional Notes