1. Scutellaria bushii Britton (Bush’s skullcap)

Pl. 442 a, b; Map 1992

Plants with knotty, woody rootstocks. Stems 20–50 cm long, erect or ascending, unbranched or few-branched, moderately to densely pubescent with short, upward-curved, nonglandular hairs. Leaves sessile or nearly so. Leaf blades (1.5–)2.0–4.0 cm long, narrowly oblong to narrowly oblanceolate, tapered at the base, rounded at the tip, the margins entire, the surfaces sparsely to moderately pubescent with short, curved hairs, also with dense sessile glands. Inflorescences of axillary flowers, these 2 per node, solitary in the axils of the upper foliage leaves. Calyces 4.0–5.5 mm long, becoming closed and enlarged to 6–7 mm at fruiting, the outer surface sparsely to moderately pubescent with short, curved hairs and sessile glands. Corollas 20–28 mm long, minutely glandular-hairy on the outer surface, deep blue to blue, the lower lip usually with a white patch or mottling toward the base, the tube S-shaped (bent upward just above the calyx and strongly curved or oblique at or above the throat), the lateral lobes relatively well-developed, ascending, the lower lip broadly fan-shaped, deeply notched at the tip. Nutlets 1 or 2(3) per calyx, 1.0–1.5 mm long, more or less globose, the surface dark brown to black, densely warty. May–June.

Scattered in the Ozark Division, with a single disjunct locality in Marion County (Arkansas, Missouri). Glades, savannas, and ledges and tops of bluffs; also roadsides; usually on calcareous substrates.

This attractive species is nearly endemic to the Ozarks. It is drought-resistent and grows in rocky situations. Bush’s skullcap has only recently begun to gain attention in wildflower nurseries.