Scutellaria Lateriflora

Mad-dog skullcap is a North American wetland perennial with slender square stems, narrow toothed leaves and small blue-violet flowers carried in one-sided racemes from the leaf axils. The blooms are subtle but numerous and suit close viewing along pond margins, stream gardens and damp woodland paths. Creeping rhizomes gradually form a colony in moist ground. The curious common name reflects historic herbal claims rather than modern veterinary use; garden plants should be valued as ornamentals and wildlife habitat, not as self-prescribed medicine.