Common Name:
Foxglove
Genus is Digitalis
species.
Foxgloves are biennials or short-lived perennials.
However, although individual plants may be short-lived, foxglove readily self-sows and multiplies. Foxglove leaves contain digitalis,
a potent heart medicine, and are considered poisonous.
From Botonical.com: "In the first year a rosette of leaves, but no stem, is sent up. In the second year, one or more flowering stems are thrown up, which are from 3 to 4 feet high, though even sometimes more, and bear long spikes of drooping flowers, which bloom in the early summer, though the time of flowering differs much, according to the locality.
As a rule the flowers are in perfection in July.
The radical leaves are often a foot or more long, contracted at the base into a long, winged footstalk, the wings formed by the lower veins running down into it some distance. They have slightly indented margins and sloping lateral veins, which are a very prominent feature. The flowering stems give off a few leaves, that gradually diminish in size from below upwards. All the leaves are covered with small, simple, unbranched hairs."
The term digitalis is also used for drug preparations that contain cardiac glycosides,
particularly one called digoxin, that is extracted from various plants of this genus."
Foxglove poisoning usually occurs from sucking the flowers or eating the seeds, stems, or leaves of the foxglove plant.
