VIRGINIAN SKULLCAP / Scutellaria laterifolia

Cherokee women used to drink the herb infusion to cure suppressed menstruation, and there is a recipe for St Vitus’s Dance from Alabama: “one ounce skullcap, one ounce feverweed (Verbena syriaca, perhaps?), one ounce Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium). Take half of each one, put in a quart jar filled with boiling water, and seal. Let it stand for two hours, then take a wineglassful three times a day” (R B Browne). This plant has been called Mad-dog, or Mad-dog Herb (House; Lloyd), because it was used to treat rabies, after a Dr van der Veer experimented with it in 1772 (Weiner).