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Scutellaria laterifolia, Virginian skullcap
Summary
Its unverified narcotic properties are thought to be used by modern witches as an aid to flying rather than the substantially more toxic members of the Solanaceae family previously favoured.
Family
Lamiaceae or Labiatae (the Mint family)
Meaning of the Name
Scutellaria
From the Latin ‘scutella’, ‘small shield’ or 'dish' from the look of the
fruit.
laterifolia
From the Latin ‘latus’, ‘wide’ and ‘folium’, ‘leaf’. From the shape
of the leaves.
Scutellaria laterifolia,
Virginian skullcap
Common Names and Synonyms
Virginian skullcap, maddog, madweed
How Poisonous, How Harmful?
Contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are hepatotoxic. Also mildly narcotic, though the reason for this has not been established, and can cause fits in large doses.
In overdose it was reported to cause mental confusion, stupor, headache, photophobia, retention of urine, bradycardia and languor followed by an inability to rest as the effects wore off.
Incidents
No reported incidents directly linked to Scutellaria. A 2003 report, however, said that ten, out of twenty, patients being considered for liver transplant, at a centre in the USA, had used herbal remedies with known hepatotoxic properties. Six of these had no other risk factors for liver failure. Though the actual substances taken are not detailed, 'Skullcap' is a widely available herbal supplement.
Folklore and Facts
Once believed to be able to cure rabies. In American Medicinal
plants, Charles F. Millspaugh says that a
Dr. Vandesveer, in the late 18th century, claimed to have
successfully treated fourteen hundred cases of rabies using
Scutellaria. His son, after him, cured forty cases in just
three years. Millspaugh is suspicious of these claims as seeming to
be an awful lot of cases for one doctor to encounter.
Many shared Millspaugh’s scepticism but it was also supplied by
regular doctors as well as quacks. A Dr. White claimed that he
had administered it to himself and survived the bite of a rabid dog
from which others died. Dr. Williams, who was usually amongst
the first to cry ‘charlatan’ or ‘quack’ was a supporter of its
efficacy.
Writing in a publication called ‘The Pomegranate’, in 2001, Charles A Clifton of the University of Southern Colorado says that many ‘Neopagans’ shy away from the use of the traditional flying ointments such as belladonna and henbane because of their fear of the toxicity of these plants. He suggests that many of these people rely on Virginian skullcap or the Lactuca virosa, the wild lettuce, using their slightly sedative properties to produce a trance like state.
