The skullcaps or helmet flowers are perennials and subshrubs, with opposite leaves and spikes of two-lipped, hooded flowers, often blue, violet, white and yellow. Some species are better for the alpine house, trough or rock garden, with others very suitable for the garden setting, S. altissima and S. scordifolia.
The tubular flowers of skullcaps provide a nectar and pollen bounty that only longer-tongued bees and butterflies can access easily, and the caterpillars of two scarce species of Prochoreutis micromoth feed upon the leaves.