Scutellaria L.
Usually herbs, sometimes small shrubs, not aromatic, sometimes rhizomatous. Lvs simple, entire to pinnatisect. Fls axillary, one to each opposite lf in upper axils or in terminal spikes or racemes. Bracts large and leaflike or reduced. Calyx 2-lipped; tube campanulate, not gibbous at base; upper lip with broad scale or scutellum which is eventually deciduous; lower lip persistent. Corolla tube usually > limb, often curved upwards, glabrous or ± hairy inside; limb 2-lipped. Stamens didynamous and parallel, lying beneath upper lip. Style gynobasic, its branches unequal. Nutlets subglobose or flattened, often granular or tuberculate.
Key
c. 200 spp., tropical, subtropical and temperate regions. Native sp. 1, naturalised 1.
In addition to the 2 spp. described, a few Eurasian spp. are cultivated by alpine plant growers, and large red-flowered tropical American spp. are occasionally grown as glasshouse plants.
