Witnessed by: TCM · Western
Chinese skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis), of the Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family. Hardy perennial with slender stems and blue-purple hooded flowers; native range: the grassland slopes of northern China, Mongolia, Siberia and Korea. Globally recognized as huang qin (黄芩) in Chinese, and Baikal skullcap, golden root, huang qin in English. The part used is root. A firm yellow root, bright golden within, with a hard bitter astringency and faint earthy smell.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
CHINESE SKULLCAP
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Chinese skullcap
- Scientific name
- Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi
- Family
- Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter
- Western
- bitter
Temperature
TCM: cold
Western: cool & dry
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses read it cold and clearing — a bitter drainer of heat
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Gallbladder · Stomach · Large Intestine
- Western
- liver · lungs · blood
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat and drains fire, dries dampness, cools the blood and stops bleeding, resolves toxicity, and calms a restless fetus
- Western
- anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiallergic, hepatoprotective and cooling
Cautions
Contraindications: cold and deficient conditions of the Spleen and Stomach with loose stool and no heat sign
Toxicity: generally safe; rare idiosyncratic liver reactions reported with Western skullcap products, often from botanical adulteration
Interactions
- Western
- CYP450-metabolised drugs: baicalin and baicalein alter drug-metabolising enzymes and transport · sedatives / CNS depressants: flavones act on GABA pathways with possible additive sedation
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