Foxglove. Digitalis purpurea.
“ Foxglove, foxglove, what do you see?” The cool green woodland, the fat velvet bee; hey Mr bumble, I've honey here for thee!
Foxglove, foxglove, what do you see now?” The soft summer moonlight on bracken, grass ,and bough; and all the fairies dancing as only they know how.
Cicely Mary Barker
In woodland ecology terms the foxglove is known as a ‘shade evader’ waiting for a clearing in the woods for its seeds to germinate and it then causes an eruption of colour from its tall single stem. A stately plant common in our British woodlands.
Foxglove has a deadly reputation, its reckless usage leading to illness, children’s deaths and even the death of geese which led the people of Orkney to shun its use for human ailments. This terrible reputation didn’t just stop at herbal usage. It was noted a Staffordshire man in the summer of 1914 remarked that the foxgloves he saw looked like soldiers and would bring about war!
A procession of foxgloves in Hartland, North Devon is still held in memory of St Nectan. who when killed by robbers left a trail of blood from which foxgloves sprang up from.
Maybe this caution of foxgloves continues in folk lore due to its associations with faeries. The word ‘glove’ may be derived from the Anglo Saxon word ‘gliew’ which is a musical instrument with small bells and the word ‘fox’ may mean ‘folk’ or ‘the little folk’ leading to other names such as fairy bells or fairy thimble.
Such a delightful looking plant attracts the little folk in the form of children who inflate the flower and burst it giving the plant the name pop dock.
If a wasting illness is affecting someone a bath of foxglove is recommended as a faerie cure. Some may have taken the plant to promote intoxication which may well result in them visiting the realms of faeries. Bells traditionally have magical properties and create altered states enhancing a further connection with foxglove’s reputation with the magical realms.
Despite all these connections with faeries and death it still is a plant that has been used extensively in folk tradition as an all purpose salve, a cure for tuberculosis, coughs, colds and sore throats as well as a disinfectant and remover of pests such as rodents and insects in the house. It has also been used as a fresh poultice for wounds.
It is widely used and most known for its diuretic ability and especially its ability to slow the pulse and save people from heart failure. This use which is widely applied in the medical world today has been credited to William Withering who actually learnt of this plant through the many herbalists before him. He was most impressed when the medical herbalist Mrs Hutton cured a patient of heart failure after college physicians had failed.
Today the chemical digitalis derived from foxglove is one of the leading cardiac drugs whilst modern herbalists do not use the actual plant anymore. However although I am in no position to recommend its use
there are many old recipes from herbalists and Irish Medieval monks who used it extensively. They would have prescribed it in such a way that it treated the patient as a whole therefore reducing the risk of its toxicity. Current research is pointing to the modern synthetic version of digitalis to be more toxic than the original plant.
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Poetry of flowers
Join me to explore the flora of the British Isles on this blog. My intention is to attempt to capture the unique quality and beauty of each species of flower, tree or shrub. For every species featured I will be growing many more wildflowers to celebrate the joy of their existence, their intrinsic conservation value and bewildering array of uses. For nearly 30 years I have noted, studied and explored wildflowers in the field much to the patience of the walker beside me. To share this passion is a heartfelt plea to respect, preserve and care for all British Wildflowers no matter how common they seem.