Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Scutellaria baicalensis
Also known as Huang Qin
Pronounced Baikal Skullcap: BYE-kal SKUL-kap. Latin: Scutellaria baicalensis, skoo-teh-LAIR-ee-ah bye-kal-EN-sis. Huang Qin: HWAHNG-chin.
Cold and dry: a bitter, fire-draining root that clears damp-heat from the lungs, gut, and liver, cools reckless heat in the blood, and settles ascendant fire.
Not established by modern data. AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook (2nd ed, 2013) and Mills & Bone note a lack of controlled safety data; because it is a cold, bitter, descending root, Western practice generally avoids it in pregnancy. In TCM it is one of the few cold herbs traditionally used to calm a heat-pattern restless fetus (an tai), but only when prescribed and monitored by a qualified practitioner. Avoid in self-care.
Insufficient data; avoid without professional supervision. No reliable human lactation safety data (NCCIH; Mills & Bone). Traditional lactation use exists but is unverified.
Insufficient modern safety data for young children. Use only under professional guidance at weight-adjusted doses; not for infant or unsupervised pediatric self-care.
Cold, bitter, and drying. Prolonged or high-dose use can injure Spleen yang and body fluids, producing cold diarrhea, poor appetite, or dryness. Not for cold or deficient presentations. Baikal skullcap itself may harm the liver. Acute liver injury with jaundice has been reported after 1 to 3 months of products containing Chinese skullcap (NIH LiverTox), and hepatotoxicity and pneumonitis (lung inflammation) are listed as adverse reactions (MSKCC). Stop use and seek medical care if jaundice, dark urine, or right-upper-quadrant pain develop.
Avoid in cold-deficiency digestive weakness (cold diarrhea, poor appetite without heat signs) and in Kidney or Spleen yang deficiency. Use only authenticated Scutellaria baicalensis root; skullcap products have been adulterated with hepatotoxic Teucrium (germander).
Widely field-cultivated in China for the commercial root supply; wild populations have been depleted by root harvest in parts of the native range. Not listed by United Plant Savers (a North American registry), but prefer cultivated, authenticated root to reduce wild-collection pressure and adulteration risk.
Not in canonical biblical texts. Native to East Asia (northern China, Korea, Mongolia, and Siberia near Lake Baikal); first recorded in the Shennong Ben Cao Jing (c. 200 CE) and a staple of classical Chinese and Kampo medicine.
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