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(Last Modified On 4/4/2013)
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(Last Modified On 4/4/2013)
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Genus
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Scutellaria L.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Sp. P1. 598, 1753.
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Description
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Herbs, mostly perennials, or half shrubs, erect or procumbent, rarely climbers, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves simple, opposite, petiolate or subsessile, pinnately-
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Habit
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Herbs
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Description
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lip deciduous and usually with a transverse squama becoming an erect scutellum at maturity, the lower lip persistent; corolla tubular, bilabiate, generally long- exserted, red, orange, yellow, blue, violet, or white and one of the previous colors, the tube cylindrical and ? sigmoid, arcuate, or more sharply bent, the upper lip cup-shaped or galeate and ? joined obliquely to the lateral lobes of the lower lip, glabrous or pubescent within or without; stamens 4, paired, included in the upper lip, the pairs attached at different levels on the corolla tube, the filaments distinct, the connective not developed, the lower anthers with 1 functional theca; ovary 4-lobed, gynobase generally conspicuous and asymmetrical, variously de- scribed or functioning as a gynophore, the style long and slender, bifid near the tip, the upper style branch small or not apparent. Nutlets ca 3-4, attached at the base, + ovoid or spherical, the pericarp variously tubercular or verrucose, some- times provided with a band near the equator.
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Distribution
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A large genus of ca 180 species found in most parts of the world. In the New World it ranges from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego and is represented by about 110 species.
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Note
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The number of species found in Panama is uncertain; Epling in the original manuscript cited only S. glabra Leonard, but there are at least two, and possibly four, additional species. Scutellaria is probably the most distinctive genus in the Labiatae, chiefly be- cause of the peculiar structure of the calyx, the squama or scutellum, (well- developed in all but 4 or 5 species), which, although easily seen at anthesis, becomes very exaggerated in fruit. Epling (1942) considers Scutellaria as singu- larly homogeneous for its size and distribution. He bases the sections largely upon characters more often associated with specific differentiation, which then becomes correspondingly tenuous. Specimens must have mature flowers, since corolla length is a constant character in Epling's keys both to sections and species. For this reason two collections cannot be identified: Stern et al. 1031 (MO), from Chiriqui, has only two immature flowers and ambiguous vegetative characters; Lewis et al. 3522 (MO), from the Province of Panama, lacks-, corollas and although similar to S. porpurascens Swartz does not appear to be conspecific with it.
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Reference
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Epling, C. C. The American species of Scutellaria. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 20: 1-146, 1942. Leonard, E. C. The North American species of Scutellaria. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 22: 703-748, 1927.
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Key
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a. Subshrubs, robust; at least some leaves > 12 cm long ................. 1. S. glabra aa. Herbs or shrubs; leaves less than 8 cm long. b. Herbs; leaves deltoid-ovate; corolla 12-15 mm long ..... ...... 2. S. purpurascens bb. Shrubs; leaves elliptic; corolla 20-25 mm long .................. 3. S. lewisiana
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