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PURPLE FOXGLOVE “Fox glove,” fairy’s glove,” or “dead men’s bells” – legends abound for this evocative-looking wildflower. A favorite tale has foxes sheathing their paws with the finger-sized blooms so as to steal into henhouses under cover of darkness. Whatever its mythology, Digitalis purpurea (literally purple finger’s breadth) is a remarkable plant. From earliest times, common folk knew of its potent healing powers, and of its potential toxicity. But it took an eighteenth century English physician to formulate exact dosages to treat congestive heart failure. To this day, pharmaceutical companies make extracts from dried foxglove leaves, the most economical source of digitalis. However, this striking plant is more than a heart drug. Native to Europe, transplants have now naturalized throughout Pennsylvania in loamy verges. A biennial – it makes an appearance the first year as a rosette of grey-green, downy, slightly notched leaves, spreading about a foot in diameter. Year two, in early summer, magic happens; a four to six foot stalk emerges from the rosette, bearing numerous pinkish-purple tubular bells -- a colorful spire rising from the wild undergrowth of ferns and thicket. Then seed dispersal, as the fruitful remains of the flowers spread to repeat the cycle. In the cottage garden, purple foxglove stretches skyward, show-cased by other shade-loving plants like hellebores, astilbe, heuchera, and hostas. Honeybees foster pollination, and hummers enjoy a sip of nectar. Dried flower stalks attract birds harvesting seed before their autumnal migration. Whether you value foxglove for its medicinal value or landscape beauty, imagine life without it. How many other useful and beautiful plants are disappearing from the face of the earth each year as habitat destruction brings about mass extinctions? Nature’s bounty still has so much untapped potential, so let’s protect each and every species, for the health of humans, and the health of the planet. Kathleen Arcuri Inside Pennsylvania, January 2010 |
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Kathy’s Garden Writing |