Scutellaria lateriflora

A perennial plant in the mint family with toothed, opposite leaves and a square stem. Small, trumpet-shaped flowers, varying in color from pale blue to lavender or even white over most of the summer. It is easily identified by the small size of its flowers, usually found in pairs or single. The flowers attract native bees such as long-tongued bees, bumblebees and sweat bees. Leaves and flowers of this low maintenance perennial can be harvested for medicinal purposes to help treat anxiety, insomnia, and nervous system ailments. Mad dog Skullcap thrives in wet-to-moist conditions and is rhizomatous, but not aggressively so. Habitats include moist sedge meadows, swamps, creek banks, bogs, shorelines, and even wet ditches. Its bitter taste and mild toxic properties deter deer, rabbits, geese and other herbivores from eating the foliage. This is an obligate wetland species, found most often in openings in swamps and bottomlands, along pool margins, in marshes and bogs, and in seepages. A fairly late-blooming Scutellaria, from July sometimes until frost. Arguably has the brightest blue flowers in the genus in the state!