Scutellaria
(from scutella, a dish or platter; alluding to the form of the fruiting calyx). Helmet Flower; Skull-cap. SYN. Cassida. ORD. Labiatae. A genus comprising about ninety species of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, annual or perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, decumbent or diffuse, rarely erect and tall, very rarely shrubs; they are scattered over temperate regions and the tropical mountains. Flowers blue, violet, yellow, or white, solitary or in pairs, axillary or in terminal spikes or racemes; calyx campanulate, two-lipped, the tube dilated opposite the posterior lip into a broad, flattened, hollow pouch, both lip and pouch deciduous in fruit, the anterior lip closed after flowering, persistent; corolla tube long, naked inside; limb bilabiate, the upper lip entire or notched, the lower dilated, its lateral lobes free and spreading, usually connate with the upper lip, rarely with the lower; stamens four. Nutlets sub-globose or depressed. Leaves often toothed, sometimes pinnatifid or entire; floral ones conformed or changed into bracts. S. galericulata and S. minor are the British representatives of the genus. The species described below are, for the most part, very handsome when in flower, and hence are well suited for ornamenting the front of flower borders. Any common garden soil is usually suitable. The herbaceous species may be increased by seeds, or by divisions; and the shrubby kinds may be readily multiplied by cuttings. S. Mociniana is one of the most beautiful of stove, flowering plants, and may be easily grown by anyone with a cool stove or warm greenhouse temperature. The bunches of flowers are freely produced--one on the point of almost every shoot--and are very bright and effective. Cuttings of half-ripened shoots root readily in spring, or at almost any season, in a warm propagating-frame. Young plants should have their points pinched out once or twice when growing, to encourage a bushy habit, and so insure a much larger production of flowers. Nice little specimens may be grown in 5in. pots. They succeed best in loam and leaf soil or decayed manure, with some sand intermixed. Except where otherwise indicated, the species here given are hardy, herbaceous perennials.
S. albo-rosea (white-and-rose). fl. borne in long, terminal racemes; corolla lilac, becoming paler towards the base of the long tube. Summer. l. ovate-oblong, cordate at base, undulated. Stem tetragonal. h. 1 1/2ft. Woods of the upper Amazons, 1859 Stove shrub. (I. H. 584.) S. alpina (alpine).* fl. in oblong, tetragonal spikes; corolla wholly purple or with the tube or lower lip yellow, 1in. to 1 1/2in. long. August. l. sub-sessile or shortly petiolate, ovate, slightly acute, rounded or cordate at base, loosely-crenate, serrate, six to ten lines long, pubescent or pilose; floral ones coloured, imbricated. Stems procumbent, often rooting at base. Europe and Central Asia, 1752. See Fig. 461. (A. F. P. 26, fig. 3; B. R. 1460; S. B. F. G. 90.) The variety lupulina has entirely yellow flowers. (B. R. 1493, under name of S. lupulina.) S. aurata (golden-flowered). fl. numerous, erect, in a terminal raceme; corolla yellow, very long, tubular-infundibuliform; pedicels short; bracts linear, reflexed. Summer. l. on rather long petioles, ovate, obtuse, acuminate, auriculate-cordate at base, the lobes approximate, entire, or obsoletely and remotely denticulate. Stem tetragonal. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Brazil, 1863. Stove perennial. (I. H. 1862, 368.) S. a. sulphurea (sulphur-coloured). fl. of a pale sulphur-colour, smaller than in the type. (B. M. 5525.) S. Columnae (Columna's). fl. opposite, secund; corolla dark purple, ten to twelve lines long, loosely pubescent outside, the throat dilated; pedicels as long as the fruiting calyx; racemes 6in. or more long, loose, slightly branched, pilose. July. l. petiolate, ovate, 2in. long, crenate, broadly cordate or truncate at base, scarcely wrinkled, slenderly pubescent; floral ones ovate. Stem erect, 2ft. to 3ft. high, branched, pubescent. South Europe, 1806. (S. B. F. G. 52.) S. costaricana (Costa Rica).* fl. numerous, racemose, sub-secund; calyx (and pedicel) dark purple, small; corolla of a rich golden-scarlet, the inside of the lips a deep yellow, 2 1/2in. long, erect, tubular-infundibuliform. June. l. ovate, acuminate, serrate-dentate; petioles rather long. Stem dark purple, erect. h. 1 1/2ft. to 3ft. Costa Rica, 1863. A beautiful stove perennial. (B. M. 5439.) S. galericulata (skull-cap). fl. secund, pubescent, solitary; corolla blue, variegated with white inside, 2/3in. long, the tube curved; bracts leaf-like; pedicels very short. July to September. l. shortly petiolate, 1/2in. to 2 1/2in. long, oblong or ovate, cordate at base, obtuse or sub-acute, rather remotely crenate-serrate. Stems 6in. to 18in. long, slender, simple or branched. Europe (Britain), &c. (Sy. En. B. 1060.) S. grandiflora (large-flowered). fl. in tetragonal, oblong spikes, which are eventually 1 1/2in. long; corolla purplish, smaller than in S. orientalis. July. l. long-petiolate, somewhat roundish-ovate, incised-toothed, softly tomentose beneath or on both sides; floral ones entire, imbricated, pubescent. Stems procumbent. Altaian Alps, Siberia, 1804. (B. M. 635.) SYN. S. pulchella. S. Hartwegi (Hartweg's).* fl. scattered, in loose, simple racemes; corolla bright red, 1in. long, with a violet lower lip. Summer. l. ovate. slightly acuminate, unequally crenate-serrate, roundly truncate or loosely cordate at base, green above, purple, and puberulous on the veins, beneath; petioles puberulous. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Quito, 1882. A very ornamental, stove sub-shrub. (B. M. 6615.) S. incarnata (flesh-coloured). fl. in terminal, secund spikes; calyx tubular, compressed; corolla flesh-coloured or pale reddish-violet, pubescent, six times longer than the calyx, with a spreading limb. Summer. l. petiolate, ovate, deeply serrated, 1in. to 3in. long, intense green, pubescent above, tomentose beneath; floral ones linear-lanceolate, equalling the pedicels. Stem erect, 2ft. high, pubescent. Central America, 1856. Stove perennial. (B. M. 4268.) S. i. Trianai (Triana's). This variety chiefly differs from the type in the much richer rose-scarlet of its corolla, and in the smaller, glabrous foliage. (B. M. 5185.) S. japonica (Japanese). fl. opposite, loose; calyx slightly pilose; corolla blue, six to eight lines long, pubescent; racemes loose-flowered, 6in. long.