Scutellaria baicalensis

Scutellaria baicalensis, with the common name Baikal skullcap or Chinese skullcap, is a species of flowering plant in the Lamiaceae family. The plant is native to China, Korea, Mongolia, and Russia in the Russian Far East and Siberia. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has the name huángqín (Chinese: 黄芩). As a Chinese traditional medicine, huang qin usually refers to the dried root of S. baicalensis Georgi, S. viscidula Bge., S. amoena C.H. Wright, and S. ikoninkovii Ju. Several chemical compounds have been isolated from the root; baicalein, baicalin, wogonin, norwogonin, oroxylin A and β-sitosterol are the major ones. It is important to use the Latin name, as the term 'skullcap' is used for over 200 varieties. Sometimes, Scutellaria lateriflora (North American skullcap) is mistaken for S. baicalensis. This confusion can result in the intake of the S. lateriflora variety which can be processed and contaminated with other plants at high enough levels to be of concern. Data related to Scutellaria baicalensis at Wikispecies