Flowers - Corolla purplish, bilabiate, to 2.5cm long, glandular pubescent externally, sparse glandular pubescent internally. Upper lip 3-lobed. Central lobe 5-6mm long. Lateral lobes rounded and much shorter than the central lobe. Lower lip single-lobed, purple, 7-8mm long, 8mm broad, often folded downward, with a white splotch near the base internally. Stamens 4,  Anthers 1.5mm long, pubescent, yellowish-purple. Style inserted between the stamens, white, glabrous, to 2.4cm long. Ovary superior, 4-lobed, with two lobes raised slightly higher than the other two, to 1.5mm tall. Lobes and base of ovary yellowish, white whitish glands. Often only one lobe expanding and forming a tuberculate nutlet in fruit. Calyx light green, and glandular pubescent,  to 4mm long in flower, lobes converging and enclosing the seeds in fruit. Dorsal protuberance 2.2mm broad, -1mm tall (in flower).

Flowering - May - July.

Habitat - Dry rocky woods, bluffs, wooded slopes.

Origin - Native to U.S.

Other info. - This striking species is found in the Ozark region of Missouri. All of the members of this genus found in Missouri are worthy of cultivation and grow well from seed. Although the genus Scutellaria belongs to the same family as the mints, none of the plants have a minty fragrance.

 

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