Google Scutellaria barbata and a host of articles about its medicinal properties will appear. Little is said about its botanical attributes, though it prefers sunny locations and does well in wet or boggy soil. Purplish-blue flowers with barbed bracts (thus the name of Barbed Skullcap) appear in early summer on upright stems that are under two feet tall and up to a foot wide. A member of the mint family, its leaves do resemble mint leaves, but because of its medicinal properties, resist the urge to eat it.