Grecian Foxglove (Digitalis lanata)

Description

“Pet poisonous” – Toxic parts: leaves Digitalis lanata (often called woolly foxglove or Grecian foxglove) is a species of foxglove. It gets its name due to the texture of the leaves. Digitalis lanata, like some other foxglove species, is toxic in all parts of the plant. Symptoms of digitalis poisoning include nausea, vomiting, severe headache, dilated pupils, problems with eyesight, and convulsions at the worst level of toxicity. The plant is also harmful to other animals. In some cases it is considered invasive or a noxious weed. Minnesota is one of the few places that consider it invasive as noted by the Western Weed Society. It is in leaf all year, in flower in June and July, and the seeds ripen in early-mid September. The flowers are hermaphroditic (having both male and female organs). Bees pollinate the flowers. The plant commonly grows from 0.3 to 0.6 meters in height, or about 13 to 26 inches. The plant prefers part shade and humus rich soil. The plant also prefers sandy, loamy, and clay soils. It can grow under dry or moist conditions. Seeds develop in pods that have small hooks, enabling the pods to be transported by animal fur or clothing. The elongated leaves are mid-green, wooly, veined, and covered with white hairs on the underside. They also have a very bitter taste. There is a tidy rosette before the spike goes up, and it is neatly arranged around the purple-tinged stems. The flowers are tubular and bell shaped with a creamy-white color and purplish-brown netting as well as a long broad lip. The flowers usually bloom in the second year. Both flowers and stems are also woolly or hairy. The species is adapted to sunny and warm sites on dry, mostly on sandy and stony loamy soil. During the first vegetation period, only the leaf rosette is developed, flowering follows during the second vegetation period. Therefore, especially during the first year, there is a high resistance against water stress (drought stress). Indeed, the leaves remain turgescent even under very low leaf water potential, due to osmotic adaptation by synthesis of non-ionic substances in the leaves. The drought induced diminishing of photosynthesis is reversible after a few hours following watering of the plants. Drought stress also reduces the quantum yield of photosystem 2. More than 70 bitter glycosides with cardiac activity, with five different aglyconees digitoxigenin, gitoxigenin, digoxigenin, diginatigenin and gitaloxigenin in the leaves act as a protection against herbivores. Yield and concentration of these cardiac glycosides are enhanced by greenhouse cultivation through enhanced temperature and enhanced carbon dioxide concentration.