Purple Foxglove Digitalis purpurea

LATIN NAME: Digitalis purpurea

COMMON NAME: Common Foxglove

The common foxglove is one of the great flowers of the wild and the garden alike. The bold, upright, biennial plant carries the rosettes of the large, soft, downy leaves and the tall, one-sided spikes of the tubular, purple-pink flowers with the spotted throats, opening from the bottom of the spike upwards through the early summer. The plant is one of the great wildflowers, and every part of it carries the potent compounds of the old medicine chest. It is a plant of the open, sunny to partly shaded, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The common foxglove is a classic of the plant science, studied for the tubular flowers and the potent compounds of the leaves. The chemistry of the plant, from which the modern heart medicines were first drawn, has been examined closely, and it keeps showing up in the work on the medicinal plants, the cardiac glycosides and the members of the plantain family. The tall, one-sided spikes and the bold, upright habit have also made it a fine garden plant, and the common foxglove is a regular subject of the studies of the great medicines that came from the wild plants.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The common foxglove is a bold, beautiful plant with a very old record in the medicine chest. The tall, spotted spikes are one of the fine sights of the early summer, drawing the bumblebees that crawl into the tubular flowers, and the plant is a generous, easy presence of the border, the wild patch and the woodland edge. The whole plant carries the potent compounds, and the modern heart medicines trace their long story back to the old use of the leaves, so the foxglove is a plant to admire from a distance rather than to touch or taste. It has been written about in the botanical and the medical papers for the spotted spikes and the very old record in the medicine, and it is a fine, bold plant of the open, sunny to partly shaded, well-drained garden.

The common foxglove is one of the great flowers of the early summer, and the tall, spotted spikes draw the bumblebees that crawl into the tubular flowers. The whole plant carries the potent compounds from which the modern heart medicines were first drawn, so it is a plant for the eyes only.

To grow the common foxglove from seed, sow the fine seeds over the surface of a tray of damp, free-draining seed compost and leave them uncovered, in a bright, open spot with gentle watering. The seedlings are up within a few weeks and grow on steadily, and the spikes rise in the second season. With the sun or the light shade and the well-drained ground, the spotted towers will open through the early summer. The plants are for the eyes only, not for eating or touching without gloves.

Uses: Medicinal

Color: Purple
Height: Up to 6 ft.
Bloom Time: Mid-season
Flower: Tall spike hung with tubular flowers
Sun/Shade: Full sun to shade.
Soil Preferences: Prefers rich woodsy soil, but is adaptable
Moisture Requirments: Average to Wet, but well-drained