Skullcap is most commonly used for insomnia, stress, anxiety and headaches
Scutellaria Lateriflora (Skullcap)
Updated Feb. 09th, 2026 | Read Time: 2 Minutes | What You Will Learn:
- What is Scutellaria Lateriflora?
- Top Health Benefits of Skullcap
- Skullcap Supplement Varieties
- Nutritional Information
- Reader Comments (2)
Skullcap may be just what you need to let it all go and help you to get to sleep and better cope with your demanding lifestyle.
What is Scutellaria Lateriflora?
Scutellaria grows in the damp woodlands or swamps of Eastern North America. It has pointed leaves and many two-lobed violet blue (sometimes pink) flowers. All aerial or above-ground parts of this perennial are dried and used medicinally.
Native tribes in the eastern parts of the United States were the first to use Skullcap medicinally. At that time it was used to treat female conditions, including menstrual pain or irregularity. It went on to become the cure for rabies in the 1700’s, which also explains why many know it as mad-dog weed or mad-dog skullcap. Although we now know that skullcap was not a cure, it does alleviate some of the symptomology such as twitching or convulsion.
Top Health Benefits of Skullcap
Today, the use of skullcap is centered on its efficacy with nervous conditions, such as anxiety, stress, muscular spasm or tension due to stress and insomnia.
Although Scutellaria has not been studied extensively in terms of its medicinal properties, it is believed that one of its more abundant flavanoids, scutellarin, is responsible for its sedative, nervine and anti-spasmodic effects. As well as treating tension, anxiety, and insomnia, it is also commonly prescribed for tension headaches, menstrual cramping, fibromyalgia and mild cases of Tourette’s or seizure disorders. Research is also now suggesting that this same flavanoid may improve blood flow in patients prone to clots, those suffering from cerebral thrombosis or stroke-induced paralysis.
Skullcap Supplement Varieties
As with most herbs, skullcap can be used as a tincture, made into a tea or infusion, as well as powdered and used in capsules. Although there are no safety issues with the herb itself, there have been a number of reports of patients suffering liver damage following consumption of a similar herb that is often mislabeled as skullcap. A dosage of anywhere from 3-6 g/day is considered safe and effective. If combined with other herbs, the dosage may be considerably less, as to allow the formula a more synergistic effect.
Whoops! Looks like I confused skullcap with deathcap! Thank you for clarifying that skullcap is not a poisonous mushroom but rather a safe, nontoxic, and rather beautiful violet flower. I didn't know about the history of skullcap in rabies and while it can't actually cure the disease, I found both this history and the fact that skullcap can treat symptoms of the disease such as convulsions, interesting. I sure hope that more research is done on skullcap because the preliminary results are interesting and I think the flavanoid scutellarin is promising!
Hello Rachel,
We're glad our article could clear up the confusion and you could learn about Skullcap and its promising benefits. Indeed, like a lot of natural health products, more research would be lovely to see its true efficacy. Thank your for sharing your favourite highlights and if you'd like to learn more about all the medicinal mushrooms, check out this article: https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/medicinal-mushrooms/