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Native Plant Society of Texas

Clear Lake Chapter

Plant of the Month: Heart-leaf Skullcap

Presented by Patty Pennington
April 12, 2021

Botanical name: Scutellaria ovata
Common names: Heart-leaf Skullcap
Family Lamiaceae (Mint)

[MUS—EASY AND FUN]

[PATTY] I chose this plant for plant to the month because it’s one of those little plants that you have in your garden that a lot of the times you don’t even notice it, but then when it starts blooming all of a sudden, it’s your favorite plant, and that is this one for me. It is in the mint family and its common name is Heart-leaf Skullcap, and luckily it really only has one common name. Its USDA symbol is SCOV.

Okay, where does Heart-leaf Skullcap…. Where is it native? So, the small inset map will show you that it is basically found all over the eastern half of the United States, and the larger map will show you, in Texas, it is common to our local area. Unlike some of our native plants that we plant that are from Texas, but not necessarily the Houston area, this one is a Houston area plant.

All right now, a little bit about this plant. The photo here was taken from my garden this morning, so you can get an idea about what it looks like in relation to other plants that you might have in your garden. It is in the mint family, so you can see it’s here next to a Lemon Balm, and the leaf structure is very, very similar. It is a perennial. It will get 1 to 3 feet in height, and I think that three feet is probably counting the flower stalk, because it really doesn’t get very tall.

One of the things I really like about this plant are the leaves. They have short little hairs on the leaves, which gives the leaf itself a very soft feel. They’re one of those plants that you like to touch when you go out in your garden.

The flowers are blue, and they bloom on spikes similar to a Salvia, in appearance. The time it blooms is April through June, and its native habitat is open woodlands, along roads, and on brushy slopes in east and south Texas. It likes moist sand, loam, clay, and limestone, so it can be adaptable to different habitats.

What else does it need? It likes part shade or shade. Mine gets morning sun where I have it, and then the rest of the day it’s shaded by a Willow Oak tree. Moisture is medium. And it spreads by underground fleshy roots. So, if you have one plant, you will get more either by its colonization or by seed. What I found says that the oily glands on the leaves can make it, possibly, dear resistant if that’s of concern to you.

In the winter, it does have evergreen foliage. And it is a nectar source for adult butterflies and attracts hummingbirds. And, like I said, propagation is root division, so you can take apart some of those colonies and pass the plants along. Or you can plant it by seeds, which is what I did recently. Now, if you’re going to plant by seeds, you have to catch the seed pod. These little flowers will turn into a little seed pod that will burst open, and the seeds are teeny tiny. So, if you’re going to plant by seeds keep an eye on your plant and get those seeds before they pop open or you’ll never find them.

So, that is it. That is Heart-leaf Skullcap, a little plant that will make your shady garden really sing in April through June.

[MUS—AND THAT’S IT]

Related Posts

Plant of the month for August is Splitbeard Bluestem, Andropogon ternarius, and also called Feather Bluestem or Paintbrush Bluestem. It is a native. It's a warm season grass. It's a perennial. It's a bunchgrass. By warm season, it means that it's dormant in the winter and starts growing in the spring as the weather warms up. A bunchgrass tends to stay in a small circle or a bunch. The grass has numerous thin basal leaves, which usually stay about 12 or 15 inches tall, which makes it ideal in our home landscapes. It grows best in part shade to full sun. And this grass will be available at our plant sale on October 20 and 21. It prefers to grow in sand or well-drained soil, which we kind of struggle with here, but it does do well. It's shade tolerant and drought tolerant. I know the camera has a hard time focusing on those light hairy little seeds. The bloom time is from August to November. In late summer, it will send up its bloom stalk, which may be up to three feet tall. And, as the seeds on the long slender stalk mature, they'll split into two tiny stems about two inches long, each with seeds of fluffy white tufts. The seeds are wind distributed. The plants may be started from seed or another way is to dig your mature plant and with your shovels, cut it into maybe four sections, which then can be replanted in other places in your yard or shared with some of your neighbors. It's an easy plant to grow. Splitbeard can be found on the prairie with Little Bluestem and it's great when it's seen in the afternoon sun en masse; reminds me of snowflakes on the branches. And it can be used in a winter dried arrangement in the house. Native bees can use Splitbeard Bluestem for nesting materials. And until their bloom stalk is sent up, the narrow basal leaves are hard to distinguish from other bunchgrasses such as Sideoats Grama. And there it is. And you note how the seeds are all on one side, thus its name. We don't have any of this one for sale at our fall sale. Maybe we will in the spring, in April. But it was interesting, I thought, when I looked for Splitbeard Bluestem in the Wasowski book of Native Texas Plants these two bunchgrasses were on the same page. So, that is the story of the Sideoats Grama and the Splitbeard Bluestem.

Plant of the Month: Woolly Bluestar

February 15, 2023

Our Plant of the Month for February 2023 is Amsonia tomentosa, commonly known as Woolly Bluestar, Woolly Amsonia, Small Leaved Amsonia, or Gray Amsonia.

Oyster Mushroom

Plant of the Month: Oyster Mushroom

January 9, 2023

Our plant of the month for January isn’t a plant at all, it’s a fungus!
Botanical name: Pleurotus ostreatus
Common name(s): Oyster Mushroom, Pearl Oyster Mushroom

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About the Region

New Braunfels, the location of our Fall 2024 Symposium, straddles both the Edwards Plateau Ecoregion and the Blackland Prairie ecoregion. Interstate 35 divides the city of New Braunfels; its path through the city closely parallels the boundary of these two ecoregions, with the Edwards Plateau on the west side and the Blackland Prairies region to the east. The Edwards Plateau area is also called the Hill Country; however, this general term covers a much larger area extending farther north. Spring-fed creeks are found throughout the region; deep limestone canyons, rivers, and lakes (reservoirs) are common. Ashe juniper is perhaps the most common woody species found throughout the region. Additional woody species include various species of oak, with live oak (Quercus fusiformis) being the most common. Sycamores (Platanus occidentalis) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) border waterways. This area is well known for its spring wildflower displays, though they may be viewed in spring, late summer, and fall, as well. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, average annual rainfall in the Edwards Plateau ranges from 15 to 34 inches.

The Blackland Prairie extends from the Red River south to San Antonio, bordered on the west by the Edwards Plateau and the Cross Timbers, and on the east by the Post Oak Savannah. Annual rainfall averages 30 to 40 inches, with higher averages to the east. This region is dominated by prairie species. The most common grass species include little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) in the uplands and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) in the riparian areas and drainages. Common herbaceous flowering plants include salvias, penstemons, and silphiums. This area has suffered greatly from overgrazing and agricultural use. Few intact areas remain, though many of the plants can be found along county roadsides throughout the region.

Our four host chapters (New Braunfels, Lindheimer, Guadalupe, and the Hill Country chapters) are located in one or both of the ecoregions above. However, the eastern portion of Guadalupe County also falls within the Post Oak Savanna ecoregion. Annual rainfall averages 35 to 45 inches, with higher averages to the east. A wide variety of hardwood trees are found, including several species of oaks, elms, and in the Bastrop area, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). Grasses and forbs dominate in the open savannas, with most common grass being little bluestem. Ranching, agriculture, and fire suppression have allowed woody species to encroach on the once-open savannas.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason