Research - Foxglove
This is text taken from online sources, that I have then highlighted information i want to use for my own text - large parts of unneeded information was removed
Green - information on the plant it self
Pink - background information/stories on people who has eaten or used it
(Text) Foxglove, from the genus Digitalis, is a beautiful plant with bell-shaped flowers in various colors like purple, white, and yellow. Despite its innocent appearance, foxglove contains digoxin, a potent toxin that can cause heart failure. Historically, people have used it to treat heart ailments, but its lethal properties have also made it a popular murder weapon in fiction and reality. Digoxin poisoning is slow-acting and difficult to trace, often resulting in heart attacks that can be mistaken for natural causes. Notable cases include a nurse in Toronto charged with murdering four babies and a woman in Belgium responsible for 26 deaths. Foxglove’s accessibility and deadly nature make it a plant to handle with extreme caution.
(Text) Digitalis purpurea, the foxglove or common foxglove, is a toxic species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae,[2] native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe.[3] It has also naturalized in parts of North America, as well as some other temperate regions. The plant is a popular garden subject, with many cultivars available. It is the original source of the heart medicine digoxin (also called digitalis or digitalin). This biennial plant grows as a rosette of leaves in the first year after sowing, before flowering and then dying in the second year (i.e., it is monocarpic). It generally produces enough seeds so that new plants will continue to grow in a garden setting.
Description
[edit]Digitalis purpurea is an herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, 10–35 cm (3.9–13.8 in) long and 5–12 cm (2–5 in) broad, and are covered with gray-white pubescent and glandular hairs, imparting a woolly texture. The foliage forms a tight rosette at ground level in the first year.
The flowering stem develops in the second year, typically 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) tall, sometimes longer. The flowers are arranged in a showy, terminal, elongated cluster, and each flower is tubular and pendent. The flowers are typically purple, but some plants, especially those under cultivation, may be pink, rose, yellow, or white. The inside surface of the flower tube is heavily spotted. The flowering period is early summer, sometimes with additional flower stems developing later in the season. The plant is frequented by bees, which climb right inside the flower tube to gain the nectar within.
The fruit is a capsule which splits open at maturity to release the numerous tiny 0.1-0.2 mm seeds.
Foxglove is a short lived plant, during the first year the leaves form a tight rosette on ground level, during the second year it will begin to bloom flowers. It is native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe. The flowering stem of Foxglove grows between 3.3 - 6.6 ft tall. Foxglove grows bell-shaped flowers that are typically purple in colour however can be pink, rose, yellow and white, the inside of these flowers are heavily spotted. The flowers will bloom during early summer months, sometimes additional flower stems will develop later on in the season. Foxglove is frequently visited by bees who will crawl inside of the flowers to collect the nectar.
Foxglove contains a potent toxin that can cause heart failure called digoxin. Despite this risk, the plant has historically been used to treat heart ailments. Due to its lethal, slow acting, difficult to trace poison, it is become a popular murder weapon in both fiction and reality. Foxglove is very accessible and along with its deadly nature, it is a plant that should be handle with extreme caution and care.
