Plants in Israel | Digitalis purpurea

Digitalis purpurea, Foxglove, Purple Foxglove, Lady’s Glove,
אצבעונית ארגמנית

Scientific name:   Digitalis purpurea L.
Common name:   Foxglove, Purple Foxglove, Lady’s Glove
Hebrew name:   אצבעונית ארגמנית
Family:   Plantaginaceae, לחכיים


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Life form:   Herbaceous biennial plant.
Stems:   50-150 cm tall, erect, simple, gray-tomentose, glandular
Leaves:   Rosette, spirally arranged, broad lance-shaped, dentated
Inflorescence:   Raceme; pedicel 6–25 mm; tomentose; numerous stalked nodding flowers ; a bifurcated (divided into two branches or forks) inflorescence
Flowers:   Purple tubular pendent in terminal, elongated cluster
Fruit:   Capsule, ovoid; seeds, rectangular, brown
Flowering Period:   March, April, May
Origin:   Western Europe


Derivation of the botanical name:

Digitalis, digitus, finger; finger like,

purpurea, purple colored.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

Digitalis contains cardiac glycosides: digitoxin and digoxin.
Cardiac glycoside digitoxin extracted from the leaves, is used as a medication for heart failure.