Foxglove

Digitalis purpurea

Foxgloves thrive on the edge of woodland in many parts of the New Forest, especially in inclosures where felling has taken place recently. They can reach 1.5 metres high and their pinky-purple bell-like flowers grow down the stem; the flowering season peaks in June.

They have been used for medicinal purposes for years and the drug ‘digitalis’ (named after its Latin title) used for heart conditions originally came from foxgloves. The plant’s medicinal use was discovered by Scottish doctor William Withering in 1775 after one of his patients was cured by a gypsy remedy, and after a decade of experiments using dried, powdered foxglove leaves he introduced its use officially.   Nowadays, preparations from digitalis leaves are made using modern recrystallisation methods.

An infusion of the plant prolongs the life of cut flowers, and root crops growing near foxgloves store better. An apple-green dye can be obtained from the flowers.

Foxgloves are poisonous and should not be eaten. The toxicity of digitalis extract had been known since the dark ages, when it was used as a poison for the medieval 'trial by ordeal'.