Swollen Skullcap is a slender herb with stems erect,
12-35 cm tall, hairless or sparsely velvet-hairy upward. Flowers are
purple blue, 0.9-1.3 cm, velvet-hairy outside, sparsely hairy on throat
inside. The tube is swollen sac-like in front at base, about 1.5 mm wide at middle,
gradually dilated to 3.5 mm wide at throat; upper lip semicircular,
about 1.5 mm; middle lobe of lower lip trapeziform, about 2.5 x 4 mm,
margin entire; lateral lobes triangular-ovate, about 1.5 mm wide, tip
pointed. Flowers arise in leaf-axils, on flower-stalks 1-2 mm, finely
velvet-hairy. Sepal-cup is about 2 mm, margin ciliolate, up to 4.5 mm
in fruit; scutellum about 1 mm, to 2 mm in fruit. Flowers are borne in
poorly defined racemes at branch-ends; floral leaves similar to stem
leaves, up to 8 mm basally, much reduced and elliptic to narrowly
elliptic upward. Leaf-stalks are 1-3 mm, concave-convex, leaf blade
triangular-ovate to ovate-lanceshaped, 1.3-3.2 x 0.5-1 cm, nearly
hairless to sparsely velvet-hairy along veins, base broadly
wedge-shaped to nearly flat, margin remotely and bluntly shallow
toothed, tip pointed. Swollen Skullcap is found in the Himalaya to
Temperate East Asia, at altitudes up to 2000 m. Flowering: March-July. Medicinal uses: The herb is used to as a
medicine to treat cancer. However, there have been multiple reports
that patients who were treated with the herb struggled with
inflammation and infection.
Identification credit: Tabish
Photographed in Imphal, Manipur.
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The flower labeled Swollen Skullcap is ...