''Scutellaria incana'', the hoary skullcap or downy skullcap, is a flowering plant in the family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

(mint family) and is native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It is a perennial flowering plant and is primarily found in the eastern United States as well as some parts of the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

Description

''S. incana'' grows to about tall with stems that are unbranched (or branched only near the top) and have short, dense, gray hairs. As with many other plants in the mint family, its stems are 4-angled (square). The leaves are opposite and are

ovate Ovate may refer to: *Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...

, measuring up to long. They have coarse, blunt teeth and are covered by fine hair. Purplish blue flowers occur in a dense

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

measuring about long at or near the end of the stem. The corolla has 2 lips; the upper lip is hooded (the "skullcap") and the lower lip is larger and broader with a white patch near the throat.

Etymology

The genus name ''Scutellaria''is from the Latin word scutella, small dish or saucer, referring to shape of the persistent

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

after the flowers fade. ''Incana'' is Latin for hoary or very grey.

Distribution and habitat

The plant is native in the United States from Texas to the west, Florida to the south, Wisconsin to the north, and New York to the east. It can be found in

mesic Mesic may refer to: * Mesic, North Carolina, a town in the United States * Mesic habitat, a type of habitat See also *Mesić (disambiguation) *Mešić Mešić is a Bosnian surname, a patronymic derived from the masculine given name '' Meša'', it ...

to mesic-dry, partially shady habitats, including upland forests, rocky woodland slopes, thinly wooded bluffs, rocky slopes along rivers, upland meadows in wooded areas, thickets, and along roadsides in woodlands.

Ecology

The flowers bloom in late summer and are pollinated primarily by bumblebees. Other insects visit the plant to drink the nectar.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7439562 incana Endemic flora of the United States Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Plants described in 1807