''Scutellaria montana'', with the common names largeflower skullcap, large-flowered skullcap and mountain skullcap, is an perennial forb first described by Alvan Chapman in 1878. This narrowly endemic species is found in the southeastern United States in parts of the
Ridge and Valley
The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...
and
Cumberland Plateau
The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms "Alle ...
Physiographic Provinces
physiographic province is a geographic region with a characteristic geomorphology, and often specific subsurface rock type or structural elements. The continents are subdivided into various physiographic provinces, each having a specific charact ...
. Populations have been documented from four Tennessee counties and nine Georgia counties and is protected under the US Endangered Species act as it is a threatened species. The Latin
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''montana'' refers to mountains or coming from mountains.
Description
This plant has a single, erect square stem and may grow 30 to 60 cm in height. The leaves are simple, opposite in arrangement, lanceolate to ovate with crenate to serrate margins, and the blades are 5 to 8 cm long and 3 to 5 cm wide. Characteristic to this species, the leaves have a soft pubescence with glandular and non-glandular hairs on both surfaces. As the common name suggests, the inflorescence are large at 2.6 to 3.5 cm long; flowers are terminal and blue and white in color. Another characteristic specific to this species and used to distinguish it from other ''
Scutellaria
''Scutellaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. They are known commonly as skullcaps. The generic name is derived from the Latin ''scutella'', meaning "a small dish, tray or platter",oak and pine trees, most often '' Quercus alba'', '' Q. velutina'', and/or '' Q. montana'', and '' Pinus echinata'' or '' P. taeda''. The soil is acidic, rocky, and shallow, sometimes as shallow as 3 centimeters. It is dry to somewhat moist in the habitat. Other plants in the habitat include '' Desmodium'' spp., '' Hexastylis'' spp., ''
Chimaphila maculata
''Chimaphila maculata'' (spotted wintergreen, also called striped wintergreen, striped prince's pine, spotted pipsissewa, ratsbane, or rheumatism root) is a small, perennial, evergreen herb native to eastern North America and Central America, fr ...
'', and ''
Cornus florida
''Cornus florida'', the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to northern Florida ...
''.
This plant was federally listed as an
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
in 1986. When more populations were discovered, it was downlisted to threatened status in 2002.''Scutellaria montana''. The Nature Conservancy. It is still threatened by human activity such as
logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars.
Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
,
suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...