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The Red-spotted skullcap (Scutellaria rubropunctata) belongs to Lamiaceae (the Mint family). It is a perennial herb that is endemic to Japan's Amami and Okinawa archipelagos. It grows along the edges of mountain forests and in grassy areas, reaching a height of 10 to 30 cm. The stem creeps along the ground at the base and rises upright toward the tip. The leaves are triangular-ovate, with short hairs on the upper surface and dense reddish-brown glandular dots on the underside. From January to around May, it produces pseudo-racemes at the stem apex and branch tips, bearing pale purple to blue-purple lipped flowers. The fruit is an ovoid schizocarp with blunt projections.
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