Perennial of the Lamiaceae family, Scutellaria alpina is a species of the mountains of Central and Southern Europe, present from the Pyrenees to the Carpathians and the Caucasus ranges. It colonizes limestone screes, sunny rockeries, and stony slopes, generally between 1,000 and 2,500 meters altitude.
It forms low and spreading clumps 10 to 20 cm in height, with erect or slightly ascending stems, covered with a fine down. The leaves are oval, crenate, medium green, with a slightly rough texture, arranged in opposite pairs along the stems.
The flowers, bilabiate, are grouped in dense terminal spikes. The upper lip is violet-purple to lilac, the lower lip white to cream, sometimes veined with pink, this bicolor contrast being one of the most immediately recognizable features of the species. The calyces, tinted brown-purple at maturity, persist after flowering and retain a certain ornament. The photos clearly show the variability of the intensity of the violet depending on the individuals, some leaning towards a deep purple, others towards a very pale lilac.
In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from July to August. In cultivation, it blooms from June to August depending on exposure.
It is cultivated in full light, in well-drained soil, preferably limestone, relatively poor. Robust and undemanding, it is well suited to medium-sized rockeries and walls, where it reseeds modestly without becoming invasive.