Scutellaria californica

California skullcap

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California skullcap is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, and San Francisco Bay Area in open sites, scrub, and woodland at elevations of 50 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces white to light yellow flowers occasionally tinged pink or blue, with a delicate corolla 16 to 19 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems 15 to 40 centimeters tall, it has appressed-ascending hairs and a rhizome with a slightly swollen tip. Its leaves have basal petioles 5 to 10 millimeters long and distal cauline blades that are ovate to oblong, with rounded tips and obtuse to wedge-shaped bases. The fruit develops as a distinctive black seed, completing the plant's subtle yet intricate life cycle.

Habitat: Open sites, scrub, woodland

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 50-2200 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaRF, n SN, SnFrB.

California counties: Mendocino, Yuba, Humboldt, Glenn, Sonoma, Nevada, Tehama, Trinity, Butte, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Alameda, Lake, Amador, Sierra, El Dorado, Colusa, Sacramento, Napa, Solano, Marin, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Tuolumne, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.