Scutellaria nana

Dwarf skullcap

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 3.3

Dwarf skullcap is a California native perennial found in the northern California Mountains and Modoc Plateau in dry, volcanic scrub landscapes at elevations of 1,000 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces white to pale yellow flowers with distinctive purple-spotted lower lips, forming delicate blossoms about 15 to 20 millimeters long. Growing with compact stems less than 20 centimeters tall, it develops thick rhizomes and features fine, pointed hairs along its stems. Its leaves are uniquely shaped, with obovate to diamond-shaped blades that have obtuse to wedge-shaped bases and rounded tips, arranged with basal petioles 2 to 5 millimeters long. The fruit develops as a small black seed with an intriguing orange-red ovary disk.

Habitat: Dry, volcanic soils, scrub

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1000-1900+ m

Bioregions: CaR, MP

California counties: Inyo, Modoc, Siskiyou, Lassen, Trinity, Plumas, Shasta

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