We carry two different Skullcap tinctures at The Wild & Weedy Apothecary – Chinese Skullcap, also called Baikal Skullcap; and American or Blue Skullcap. We have some juvenile plants of the Chinese species in our garden, and we have been harvesting the American species for a couple years now. The two Skullcaps have different uses, and different parts are used as well. Both herbs belong to the mint family.
Blue Skullcap, Scutellaria lateriflora (and simply called Skullcap in our products listing), is native to eastern North America where is can still be found growing wild in moist woodlands. This plant grows to about knee-high with small blue flowers delicately gracing the squared stems. It can easily be cultivated in the home garden. The above-ground stems and flowers are the parts used in herbal medicine.
This herb is an ally for people who are easily freaked out. Most cases of nervous over-excitement, fearfulness, anxiety, restless sleep and panic attack can be remedied with this herb. The flavonoid compounds have sedative and anti-spasmodic properties, and also stimulate the release of endorphins. A combination of skullcap, linden flower, catnip and hops can be used as a tea or in tincture form for especially fragile nervous conditions such as breaking drug-dependency.
Skullcap herb is a safe, gentle, non-narcotic, non-sedative nervine appropriate for children. It helps the excited child calm down without drowsiness. If your young child has difficulty staying focused or sitting indoors for long periods of time, as in a classroom, this is completely normal, and the remedy is outdoor play in the fresh air. If your child wakens from a bad dream and is afraid to go back to sleep, Skullcap is a remedy you can turn to. In cases of headache, fever or other minor pain, Skullcap eases discomfort and allows for rest or quiet activity; it’s also a good remedy for whining accompanied by chicken pox.
Blue Skullcap can help relieve PMS. It helps reduce the neuralgia, nervous tension and irritability associated with pre-menstrual symptoms, and it is also anti-spasmodic.
Most information concerning American Skullcap is anecdotal, but enough evidence of its positive effects exists to deem it worthy of further study.
We also sell Skullcap in combination with Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) and Oatstraw (Avena sativa) and call it Nerve Tonic Tincture, a nutritive blend of herbs that nourishes the entire nervous system and produces a gentle yet noticeable nervine effect.
Tincture dosing of Blue Skullcap for adults is 5-15ml, 2-3x a day or as needed for acute situations as outlined above. Tincture dosing of Skullcap for children is according to weight, 5-15 drops in water every 30 minutes until symptoms subside. This herb should not be used during pregnancy without consulting your midwife.
Chinese Skullcap is also known as Baikal Skullcap, in reference to its native habitat near the deepest lake in all of Russia, Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia. Scutellaria baicalensis also has blue flowers and is more of a woody-wiry plant. Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for over 2000 years, it is one of the fifty most important herbs in the practitioner’s repertoire. Chinese Skullcap (which is what we call it in our product listing; the root is the part used here) is considered specific for jaundice, hepatitis, fever and pneumonia, naming just a few conditions. However, it is almost always used in combination with other herbs, such as with Bupleurum (Bupleurum chinense) for hepatitis. Chinese Skullcap is active against types A, B and C hepatitis.
Chinese Skullcap herb
The whole plant is high in melatonin, and has been used as a sleep aid. It has been used for physical and mental exhaustion, insomnia, restlessness and other nervous disorders. Chinese Skullcap is a central nervous system sedative (compare to Blue Skullcap, which is a nervine and not a sedative). It contains free-radical scavengers: synergistic neuroprotective compounds that stimulate brain cell regeneration. This herb is specific Lyme disease treatment for one of the stealthiest bacterial organisms out there, mycoplasma infection, and it protects both brain and CNS tissue. Chinese Skullcap is useful for treating symptoms of all the Lyme-group pathogens, partly because it synergistically helps other herbs cross the blood-brain barrier.
Chinese Skullcap is not directly anti-bacterial – it does not actually kill bacteria – but rather, it interferes with their mechanical ability to infect, steal nutrients, and break off into so much metabolic flotsam polluting your body. It has been used to treat staph and proteus as well as the previously mentioned mycoplasma.
Although not for use with obstructed bile duct, this root is a bile stimulant and can also help restore appetite. It helps reduce inflammation of the liver, and research shows that Chinese Skullcap can normalize liver enzyme levels. It can alleviate the sleep disorders that often accompany liver disease. A broad spectrum anti-viral, S. baicalensis inhibits viral replication and protects cell membranes from viral invasion.
The root of Chinese Skullcap can increase the bioavailability of certain prescription drugs, including insulin and those for reducing blood pressure. Please consult your health care professional before using Chinese Skullcap if you take any medications. Do not use during pregnancy.
Tincture dosing of Chinese Skullcap for adults is ¼-½, teaspoon 3x a day.
Chinese, or Baikal, Skullcap flowers
© Doreen Shababy
We stock both types of Skullcap in the Apothecary, as well as the Nerve Tonic Tincture, and soon will stock herbal tea blends that include Skullcap. Write to us: WILDNWEEDY@FRONTIER.COM.
All our tinctures are made with organic cane alcohol and wildcrafted, organic or sustainably grown botanicals.
slow down, have a cup of tea
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