Rusty Foxglove

Description

Digitalis ferruginea, the rusty foxglove, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae, native to Hungary, Romania, Turkey and the Caucasus. It is a biennial or short-lived perennial plant growing to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in), which forms a rosette of oblong dark green leaves and carries spikes of brown, tubular flowers in summer. The Latin specific epithet ferruginea means “rusty coloured”, referring to the flowers. As with all species of foxglove, all parts of this plant may cause severe discomfort and vomiting if eaten. Contact with the leaves may also cause an allergic reaction.This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Digitalis is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. Digitalis is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shape, produced on a tall spike, and vary in colour with species, from purple to pink, white, and yellow. The scientific name means "finger". The genus was traditionally placed in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, but phylogenetic research led taxonomists to move it to the Veronicaceae in 2001.More recent phylogenetic work has placed it in the much enlarged family Plantaginaceae. The best-known species is the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. This biennial is often grown as an ornamental plant due to its vivid flowers which range in colour from various purple tints through pink and purely white. The flowers can also possess various marks and spottings. Other garden-worthy species include D. ferruginea, D. grandiflora, D. lutea, and D. parviflora. The term digitalis is also used for drug preparations that contain cardiac glycosides, particularly one called digoxin, extracted from various plants of this genus. Foxglove has medicinal uses but is also very toxic to humans and other animals, and consumption can even lead to death. The generic epithet Digitalis is from the Latin digitus (finger). Leonhart Fuchs first invented the name for this plant in his 1542 book De historia stirpium commentarii insignes, based upon the German vernacular name Fingerhut,which translates literally as 'finger hat', but actually means 'thimble'.