Foxglove

The foxglove (Digitalis purpurea L.) is a strong plant with a basal rosette of ovate to lanceolate shaped leaves at its base and which can achieve a height of over one meter, generally pubescent, with glandule hairs or not. The flowers are set in terminal racemes. These flowers are big, with a cylindrical bell tube, frequently contracted at the base, and which are either purple, light pink or white collared. It has four sub-species in our country.
It is a species which usually flees from limestone and appears in various types of habitats. It is an ornamental plant, which has medicinal interests such as carditonic (since it is rich in digitalin) and diuretic, but should be used with great care.

Mário Fernandes Lousã
Botanist, QUERCUS member nr. 12661