Skullcap

 Latin: Scutellaria Lateriflora

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): Huang Qin

A “nervine and anti-spasdmodic, and is slightly astringent … it has been known to render the patient free of disturbance in many cases of hydrophobia. This is also true in cases of insomnia, excitability, and restlessness.” (Robert Thomson, in “The Grosset Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine” (1980))

A “central nervous system vaso-dilator and antispasmodic.” (Menzies-Trull in "The Herbalist's Prescriber")

“Skullcap is perhaps the most widely relevant nervine available to us in the materia medica. It relaxes states of nervous tension whilst at the same time renewing and revivifying the central nervous system … it may be used in all exhausted or depressed conditions.” (David Hoffman in “The New Holistic Herbal”).

Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble, in “Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica” say, in the section headed “Herbs that clear Heat and Dry Dampness”, that it is, “bitter, cold … [it] clears heat and drains fire … drains dampness … sedates ascendant Liver yang…”.