I had a good friend of mine the other day send me a message and asked if I had ever heard of Digitalis. She also said it might be a good topic for a blog article, I figured she might be right. The more I researched it, the more "right" she became.
Digitalis purpurea, the common Foxglove, belongs to a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and biennials.
Folklore suggests several origins of the name "foxglove". The plant may have originally been called 'folk's glove' with 'folk' referring to woodland fairies or little people. One interesting story suggests that woodland elves and fairies distributed the plant to foxes to wear as gloves during raids on chicken coops. The different spots on the flowers helped farmers identify the guilty fox when the chickens disappeared.
The earliest known form of the word is the Anglo-Saxon 'foxes glofa' (the glove of the fox).
It actually derives its common name from the shape of the flowers resembling the finger of a glove.
They are native to Western and South Western Europe, Western and central Asia, and Northwestern Africa. Growing 4 to 5 feet tall, Foxgloves are considered biennials, which means the normal life of a Foxglove plant is two seasons, but sometimes the roots, which are formed of numerous, long, thick fibers, persist and throw up flowers for several seasons. However, after flowering, plants can become somewhat scraggly by late Summer, you may want to consider removing them from the garden as soon as they release their seed. An incredible number of seeds are produced, a single Foxglove plant can produce from one to two million seeds to ensure its propagation. Who wants to talk about the possibility of an invasive plant now!?
The major problems these plants have are Powdery mildew and leaf spot, if it is left untreated, it will damage foliage considerably by late Summer. Dense crowns may rot in soggy, poorly-drained Winter soils. Potential insect pests include aphids, mealy bugs, slugs and Japanese beetles.
I mentioned how the flowers resemble the fingers of a glove, each individual flower fits the human finger almost perfectly. A child can hardly resist poking their fingers into the blossoms that seem almost designed for that purpose. The flowers, leaves and seeds are highly toxic however, and care should be taken when growing this plant to prevent accidental poisonings. Even with this being said, Foxglove is grown commercially as a source of the heart drugs digoxin and digitoxin.
The man credited with the introduction of Foxglove (digitalis) into the practice of medicine was William Withering. He was born in Shropshire, England in 1741.
Digitalis purpurea in Witherings 18th century was a blessing for people with dropsy (An old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water, better known as Edema today). At the same time, Foxglove concoctions began to appear in an attempt to cure, albeit unsuccessfully, illnesses such as asthma, epilepsy, hydrocephalus, insanity and others. The 18th century brought Foxglove into medical light, but it would take several hundred years before its true healing powers could be harnessed completely.