It can be found in the Asian "barbed skullcap" Scutellaria barbata and the north American plant S. lateriflora both of which have been used in traditional medicine.

The determination of the structure of scutellarin took Guido Goldschmiedt many years: after the first publication on that topic in 1901, only in 1910 he managed to obtain enough starting material for more detailed studies.

One mechanism of scutellarin's antitumor action is to bind to TNF receptor II (TNFR2) in tumor-associated CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells.

In laboratory studies, scutellarin inhibits hypoxia-induced and moderately high glucose-induced proliferation and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in human retinal endothelial cells; thus, it could be a potential therapy for diabetic retinopathy.

In laboratory studies, a drug-resistant type HIV-1 cell-to-cell infection was inhibited with significant potency.