MAY 25, 2017 // 19
Foxglove
By LYNETTE RAE MCADAMS
FOR COAST WEEKEND
Equally at home in
the forest or the garden,
the common foxglove is
a local favorite, dotting
woodland paths with the
welcome textures of late
spring, and adding color
and height to landscape
designs.
Given its ubiquity
throughout the Colum-
bia-Pacific region, it’s
easy to assume the plant
is indigenous, but in fact,
Digitalis purpurea is native
only to western Europe and
parts of central Asia.
Considered a biennial,
the first year of the plant’s
life produces a rosette of
velvety, dark green leaves
growing close to the
ground. In the second (and
final) year of life, a tall,
slender spike also emerges,
crowned with a profusion
of freckled, tubular blooms
that range in color from
bright purple to the palest
pink.
Prolific self-seeders,
one foxglove produces
more than two million
seeds in its short lifetime;
the plant you see returning
in the same spot every
year is actually the product
of multiple generations.
In the language of
science, the foxglove’s
name translates literally
as “measuring a finger’s
breadth,” which makes
perfect sense, given the
blossom’s natural, thim-
ble-like fit on human
phalanges. Its common
calling, derived from Old
English and originally
“foxes golfa,” is believed
to come from folklore
claiming that a fox
sheathed its paws with the
magic flowers to aid with
nocturnal raids.
Another possibility: The
name evolved over time
from the earlier “folks’
glove,” which speaks to
the ancient belief that fairy
folk used the cheerful blos-
soms to make their homes.
Historically, all parts of
the plant, in its every state,
were known to be fatally
poisonous, and no docu-
mentation of its use to hu-
mans existed before 1785,
when an extract from the
plant was found to contain
cardiac glycosides — or-
ganic compounds that
affect the rhythm of the
heart. More than 200 years
later, Digitalis is still a key
ingredient in the manufac-
ture of the predominant
medication used to treat
congestive heart failure
and certain arrhythmias.
Despite its modern
therapeutic use, the plant
has its detractors: Acci-
dental pharmaceutical
overdoses have occurred,
as well as multiple sui-
cides, and — in at least 10
documented court cases
— improper use of the
plant returned convictions
of homicide.
Through the years, D.
purpurea has featured
prominently in mainstream
fiction of the murderous
variety. In Agatha Chris-
tie’s 1938 novel, “Ap-
pointment with Death,”
it debuted as a poison of
choice, and resurfaced
again to fresh acclaim
in 1993 during the first
season of the popular
FBI-conspiracy series
“The X-Files.”
PHOTO BY LYNETTE RAE MCADAMS
Digitalis purpurea, the common foxglove, is a welcome sight
throughout the Columbia-Pacific region. Arriving in late spring
and lasting into early summer, this highly toxic beauty can be
seen along open roads and pathways, and circling the edges of
forests and wetlands.
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