Scientific Name: Digitalis purpurea L.
Family: Scrophulariaceae (Foxglove Family)
Common name: Common Foxglove
Description: Herbaceous biennial or short lived perennial running into many forms; foliage forms a tight rosette at ground level in the first year; flowering stem develops in the second year, typically 3 to 6 feet tall; flowers are typically purple.
Range and Habitat: Native to Western Europe and grown in gardens as ornamentals.
In Porcher’s time… Foxglove’s power to diminish the force of the circulation was well known. It was sometimes violently emetic and purgative.
See the historical entry on this plant as it appears in Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests