Mad-dog Skullcap
Scutellaria lateriflora
Found in alluvial forests, bogs, seeps, marshes, shores. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- 2–4 feet
- Spread
- 1.5–2.5 feet
- Light
- Full to part sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
Space about 2 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 25 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- July to November
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 2 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Scutellaria
- Endothenia hebesanaVerbena Bud Moth
- Prochoreutis inflatellaSkullcap Skeletonizer
- Stenoptilodes taprobanesNarrow Plume Moth
23BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Scutellaria
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Scutellaria
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3–9
- Flower color
- Blue
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Blue” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- Hardiness · “Zones 3–9” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “2–4 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full to part sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- primary_flower_color · “blue” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide
- Soil · “wet to moderately wet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Spread · “1.5–2.5 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as
Mad Dog Skullcap; Tall Blue Skullcap
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Growing cautions
- Spreads by rhizomes. Spreads by rhizomes and runners. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications