Latin Name
Scutellaria baicalensis

General Description
Chinese herbalists prescribe the long, thick, skinless yellow root of skullcap for a wide range of disorders. In traditional Chinese medicine skullcap is characterized as bitter and cold.

Target Ailments
Taken internally for:

• Diarrhea, dysentery.
  
• Upper-respiratory infections with fever.
  
• Urinary tract infections, jaundice and hepatitis.
  
• Nervous tension, irritability, headache, insomnia, epilepsy and other seizures.
  
• Red face or eyes.
  
• Coughing up or vomiting blood, nosebleeds and blood in the stool.
  
• Abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, threatened miscarriage during pregnancy and premenstrual stress.

Preparations
Skullcap root is available in bulk from Chinese pharmacies, Asian markets and Western health food stores. You can also obtain the herb as pills.
The root is usually decocted, but it can be fried dry for use in pregnancy and to treat diarrhea and infections of the urinary tract, or cooked in wine for upper-respiratory infections and redness of the face and eyes.
Combinations: A mixture with coptis is prescribed for high fever and irritability. Skullcap root mixed with anemarrhena is thought to alleviate chronic coughs. For further information on preparations and doses, consult a Chinese medicine practitioner.

Special Information

• Before using skullcap to treat diarrhea or problems of pregnancy, check with a Chinese medicine practitioner.
  
• The root seemed to have a diuretic effect in laboratory tests on healthy animals and humans.
  
• Skullcap has been shown to have broad antimicrobial effect in the laboratory.

Possible Interactions
Some sources in traditional Chinese medicine suggest that skullcap counteracts the effects of moutan and veratrum.