Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove) has freely seeded in our neck of the woods, including on our property. You probably guessed by its Latin name that the heart drug digoxin is made from digitoxin that is extracted from the plant.
Digitalis increases the force of the heart contractions. It is often used for congestive heart failure.
It is far too potent to be used without medical supervision. One should never try to ingest the foxglove plant/flower parts in any form. Death will likely result :-O Grow them for ornamental purposes only, with the exception of using the flowers to yield a chartreuse color on wool mordanted with alum.
Biennial plants, they flower in their second year in June and July, reaching 4-8 feet in height.
Each of the many flower bells will scatter hundreds of tiny black seeds if left to dry on the stalk.
But watch out.......... they will grow everywhere. I pull up hundreds every spring for the weed pile.
"The scope of herbal medicine ranges from mild-acting plant medicines such as chamomile and peppermint, to very potent ones such as foxglove (from which the drug digitalis is derived). In between these two poles lies a wide spectrum of plant medicine with significant medical applications. One need only go to the United States Pharacopoeia to see the central role that plant medicine has played in American medicine."
-Donald Brown, N.D., of Bastyr College, in Seattle, Washington
Digitalis increases the force of the heart contractions. It is often used for congestive heart failure.
It is far too potent to be used without medical supervision. One should never try to ingest the foxglove plant/flower parts in any form. Death will likely result :-O Grow them for ornamental purposes only, with the exception of using the flowers to yield a chartreuse color on wool mordanted with alum.
Biennial plants, they flower in their second year in June and July, reaching 4-8 feet in height.
Each of the many flower bells will scatter hundreds of tiny black seeds if left to dry on the stalk.
But watch out.......... they will grow everywhere. I pull up hundreds every spring for the weed pile.
"The scope of herbal medicine ranges from mild-acting plant medicines such as chamomile and peppermint, to very potent ones such as foxglove (from which the drug digitalis is derived). In between these two poles lies a wide spectrum of plant medicine with significant medical applications. One need only go to the United States Pharacopoeia to see the central role that plant medicine has played in American medicine."-Donald Brown, N.D., of Bastyr College, in Seattle, Washington
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