General Information

  • Category- Flower, drug
  • Binomial Name- Digitalis perpurea
  • Common Names- Common foxglove
  • Spread- 18-24 inches
  • Height- 24-60 inches
  • Days to Maturity- 365-730 days

Environmental Requirements:

  • Soil- Sandy soil rich in organic matter and well drained
  • Soil Moisture- 20%
  • Soil pH- 5.5-6.5
  • Sun Requirements- Full sun/Partial sun
  • Best Time to Plant- Spring (February-March)

Tips to Grow Digitalis:

  1. Arrange good quality of digitalis seeds.
  2. Soil should be rich in organic matter and well draining. It should be moist but not wet. Add some compost in the soil prior planting. Compost improves the soil texture and drainage.
  3. Arrange a tray with drainage holes at the bottom and fill it with the soil. In each block of tray sow seeds on the top of the soil, don’t bury them. In 20-30 days germination occur.
  4. When seedlings raised, transplant your seedlings.
  5. Apply a 1-inch layer of compost around the plant in early spring to encourage growth. Fertilizer is not necessary and excess nitrogen can harm the flower growth. 
  6. The leaves are collected each year for two years. But the leaves of first year are better in quality.
  7. Collection is done in the early afternoon since the concentration of active drug is more at that time.

Chemical Constituents of Digitalis:

The drug contains both primary and secondary cardiac glycosides.

  • The primary glycosides are- 1) Purpurea glycoside A; 2) Purpurea glycoside B; 3) Glucogitaloxin. The primary glycosides are less stable and less absorbed.
  • The secondary glycosides are- 1) Digitoxin; 2) Gitoxin; 3) Gitaloxin.
  • Digitaxose is the sugar present in digitalis.

Uses:

  • The main use of digitalis is the treatment of congestive cardiac failure.
  • Digitalis has diuretic action.

As with many poisonous plants, foxglove flowers, stems, and roots are poisonous to both people and pets. The foxglove plant is actually the source of the heart medication known as digitalis.

Vegetables