Guide
What is skullcap? A plain guide
Skullcap is the common name for two different plants sold as supplements — American skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) and Chinese skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis) — with different parts used, traditions and chemistry.
Skullcap is the common name for several plants in the mint-family genus Scutellaria. Two species show up in supplements: Scutellaria lateriflora (American skullcap) and Scutellaria baicalensis (Chinese skullcap, or huang qin) — different plants, different traditions, different research. Neither is the fitted cap also called a "skullcap."
Two different plants, one common name
The genus Scutellaria includes more than 350 species worldwide, but two dominate the supplement market, and they aren't interchangeable:
| American skullcap | Chinese skullcap | |
|---|---|---|
| Latin name | Scutellaria lateriflora | Scutellaria baicalensis |
| Part used | Aerial parts (leaf and stem) | Root |
| Tradition | North American and European herbalism | Traditional Chinese medicine (huang qin) |
| Native range | Wet meadows and streambanks, eastern North America | China, Mongolia, Russia, Korea |
A 2021 review of the genus found the two species carry different chemistry: American skullcap's leaf and stem contain a flavonoid mix that includes baicalin, baicalein and a compound called lateriflorin, while Chinese skullcap's root concentrates baicalin, baicalein and wogonin at much higher levels. Of the roughly 70 Scutellaria species studied for chemistry in the decade before that review, S. baicalensis, S. barbata and S. lateriflora were the three most often used in clinical research.
Where the name comes from
The small blue-to-violet two-lipped flowers have a raised, helmet-shaped part on the upper calyx that resembles a tiny cap — that's the "skullcap" in the name, not the headwear. Both species have a mild, grassy, somewhat bitter taste whether taken as a tea, tincture or capsule.
How it's traditionally been used
American skullcap has a documented history among Cherokee herbalists and 19th-century American physicians, who classified it as a "nervine" — a calming tonic, a different traditional category from an adaptogen — and used it for nervous tension. Chinese skullcap's root has centuries of use in traditional Chinese medicine, usually in multi-herb formulas rather than alone. Those are historical use patterns, not a description of what a modern supplement dose has been shown to do; skullcap benefits: what the research does and doesn't show covers what's actually been tested in people.
Forms it's sold in
American skullcap is sold as dried aerial parts for tea, an alcohol tincture, or capsules of powdered herb or extract. Chinese skullcap is more often sold as a root extract, sometimes standardized to a percentage of baicalin. Neither form has been shown to work better than another for any specific outcome — see how much skullcap should you take a day for what doses have actually been studied.
Questions people ask
What is Chinese skullcap?
Scutellaria baicalensis, also called huang qin — the root of a different plant from American skullcap, used in traditional Chinese medicine and concentrated in different compounds (baicalin, baicalein, wogonin). It's also the species with the CYP450 drug-interaction data covered in skullcap and medications: what to check.
Isn't a skullcap also a hat?
Yes — a close-fitting cap, including the kippah worn in Judaism and the zucchetto worn by Catholic clergy (including the pope), plus the padded caps worn under football and other sports helmets. That's an unrelated word for an unrelated object; this page and the rest of our Learn library cover the herb only.
How does skullcap work?
One lab study isolated a flavonoid from Chinese skullcap's root and found it bound the same brain receptor site as the drug diazepam, then reduced anxiety-like behavior in a maze test in mice without causing sedation at the dose tested — though a single isolated compound in mice doesn't establish that the whole herb, taken as a tea or capsule, does the same thing in a person. No comparable receptor-binding study has been run on American skullcap's flavonoid mix.
Is skullcap an adaptogen?
No. Herbalists generally place it in a separate traditional category, a nervine, rather than the adaptogen category, which describes a different, specifically defined group of herbs.
Where does skullcap grow?
American skullcap grows wild in wet meadows, marshes and along streambanks across eastern and central North America (USDA PLANTS Database). Chinese skullcap is native to northern China, Mongolia, Russia and Korea and is now cultivated commercially for its root.
Can you smoke skullcap?
Some dried-herb smoking blends include skullcap leaf, but that's outside what this guide covers — we're describing oral use (tea, tincture, capsules), and there's no inhalation safety data for skullcap to point to either way.
What does skullcap look like?
American skullcap is a slender, branching perennial, usually 1-3 feet tall, with paired toothed leaves and small tubular blue-to-violet flowers arranged along one side of the upper stem. Chinese skullcap has similar violet-blue flowers above ground, but the part used commercially is the thick, yellow-fleshed root beneath it — the two look quite different once dug up.
What does skullcap taste like?
Bitter and slightly grassy, whether steeped as tea, taken as a tincture, or swallowed as a capsule of powdered herb. Chinese skullcap's root extract tends to taste more strongly bitter than American skullcap's aerial-parts preparations.
Related reading: skullcap benefits: what the research does and doesn't show, skullcap side effects, and how to choose a good skullcap.
Sources
- Traditional uses, ten-years research progress on phytochemistry and pharmacology, and clinical studies of the genus Scutellaria A review of the Scutellaria genus found over 200 distinct compounds identified across species in the past decade, with S. baicalensis, S. barbata and S. lateriflora the species most used in clinical research.
- The Phytochemistry of Cherokee Aromatic Medicinal Plants A review of Cherokee ethnobotany lists American skullcap among traditional medicinal plants still used today, while noting the chemistry of many such plants is still incompletely studied.
- Analysis of Scutellaria lateriflora and its adulterants Teucrium canadense and Teucrium chamaedrys by LC-UV/MS, TLC, and digital photomicroscopy Laboratory analysis found American skullcap's chemical signature (baicalin, lateriflorin, dihydrobaicalin, baicalein) is distinct from the germander plants sometimes mixed in as adulterants.
- Naturally occurring 2'-hydroxyl-substituted flavonoids as high-affinity benzodiazepine site ligands In mice, an isolated flavonoid from Chinese skullcap bound the same brain receptor site as diazepam and reduced anxiety-like behavior in a maze test without causing sedation at the dose tested.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.