Species: Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Family: Plantains (PLANTAGINACEAE)
Category: Flowering Plants
Location: NW
A. Flowering Plants
More extensive information on flowering plants can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Plantains (PLANTAGINACEAE)
Many members have flat leaves that seem to lay on the ground, hence the derivation of the name from the Latin planta, sole of the foot. The flowers are on long, leafless stalks. The best known plantain is the banana.
C. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
The familiar spikes of pink-purple two-lipped flowers of this native woodland plant appear from June. The Anglo-Saxon name Foxes glofa means the glove of a fox, because the flowers resemble the fingers of a glove. Faeries wear the flowers as shoes to walk silently, and the mottlings are their fingermarks. A leaf extract is a powerful cardiac stimulant, with Digitoxin being the most powerful ingredient. The concentration is highest when the flower spike is about two-thirds expended, and the seeds have not ripened.
Images
Foxglove
The familiar spikes of pink-purple two-lipped flowers of this native woodland plant appear from June.
Foxglove
A leaf extract from the Foxglove is a powerful cardiac stimulant, with Digitoxin being the most powerful ingredient.
