Digitalis purpurea

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

The Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), also foxglove, cinquefoil, fox herb Schwulstkraut, our - love - women - glove, Forest bells, called Forest clamp, is a species of the genus of the thimbles ( digitalis ) in the family of the plantain family ( Plantaginaceae ). The genus name Digitalis is derived from the Latin word digitus for fingers and refers to the characteristic flower shape.

All parts of the plant are highly toxic. Even the consumption of two leaves can lead to a fatal poisoning. The Foxglove was elected to the poisonous plant of the year 2007.

Description

The Foxglove usually grows as a biennial herbaceous plant. In the first year it forms a basic rosette of leaves from which casts up to 200 cm tall, usually unbranched, leafy stems in the following year. These half- rosette plant drives rare in other years from the basal axillary buds again. The undergraduate, to 20 cm long leaves are long-petiolate and possess a thickness taper narrowed Spreitengrund which are upper sessile. The leaf arrangement is spiral, the sixth leaf is just above the first, which corresponds to two rounds a divergence angle of 144 degrees. The egg-shaped leaf blade is hairy on both sides, but greyish - white hair with kerbig serrated leaf edge.

In the terminal, racemose inflorescence many flowers are borne. The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic. The five purple -violet or rarely white petals are fused into a 4 to 6 cm long, thimble- like crown that hairy inside and outside is bare. The crown is two-lipped with flashy spotted lower lip. There are four stamens present. The scar is bilobed. The flowering period extends from June to August.

It can be formed with a length of about 12 mm ovoid seed capsules that open especially along the septa ( septizid ) and contain many small with a length of about 0.5 mm seeds. Fruit ripening takes place in August.

Ecology

The racemose inflorescences are by orientation towards the light einseitswendig ( positively phototropic ). If the thimble in full sun, have its flowers to the south. The individual flowers are directed obliquely downward. It is " revenge Flowers" with the inner wall tightly fitting dust bags and scars. The input in the blooms will be smaller insects denied by vertically upstanding locking hair; usually only bumblebees can penetrate ( " Einkriechblume "). serves the projecting lower part of the bell flowers as a landing platform., when the insect penetrates to the nectar, it clips the stamens with the back, which can be while loaded with pollen.

The flowers are vormännlich; they flourish on the inflorescence from bottom to top. When the lower are in the female stage, the upper stage only in the male. Since the approach of inflorescences by bumblebees always takes place from bottom to top, cross-pollination is ensured. The dark and light edged patches of flowers inside were previously interpreted as juice times. It has now been shown that the flowers are only five times served rare with coverage of the spots; Therefore, we interpret the spots today than anther dummies. The life of the flower is about six days. Sometimes takes a monstrous giant flower on (pseudo peloria ). In the flowers of the anthocyanin cyanine is included.

The many small seeds are " balloonists ." The capsule fruits are wind - and animal shakers.

The seeds are light to germinate. The Foxglove is a long-day plant.

Occurrence

The Foxglove is native to western Europe and the western Southern, Central and Northern Europe and Morocco. In North and South America, he is not resident as introduced. In Germany it has its natural range to the Harz Mountains and the Thuringian forest, but occurs wild today across the country.

You can find the Red thimble but scattered sociable in clearings, especially the mountains, forest trails and Waldverlichtungen. He prefers fresh, lime-poor, acidic, loose, humus- rich soil in full sun to partial shade.

After Ellenberg he is a half- light plant, a default pointer with oceanic heat distribution, a fresh pointer, a pointer acid and a Verbandscharakterart the fireweed - clearing corridors ( Epilobion angustifolii ).

Since the 16th century it is used in temperate latitudes as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens.

Use in herbal medicine

The Foxglove is known in folk medicine for a long time as a remedy for heart failure ( heart failure ) and since the late 18th century used medicinally.

This striking plant was not yet attached great importance in the Middle Ages in ancient times. A collection of recipes Welsh language from the 12th or 13th century, first mentioned in an external application of the leaves. A German -language book on herbs from the 16th century called a gentian similar effect. Tabernaemontanus 1588 did not have any use for this plant:

However, one has used it already at this time in Ireland, associated with magical practices, it should help against the "evil eye ". The British used the plant as an emetic, to promote expectoration in bronchitis and in 1700 even against tuberculosis. 1748, experiments of the Académie Française, that after feeding on foxglove turkeys whose heart, liver, gall bladder and lung had shrunk. This meant that the British applied the thimble rare.

Only the English physician William Withering attacked in 1775 on an old family recipe (used to treat dropsy ) and treated with leaves of the Red foxglove successful water retention (edema ), which were attributed to heart failure. Supposedly, confessed to him the wife of one of his patients that they had asked a herbalist for help. However - as it claims the legend - the herbalist wanted him not reveal names and growing area of the plant; he let her watch and found that the elixir of herbalist digitalis contained. From 1776 to 1779 Withering conducted a series of experiments on dozens of his heart patients. Based on his observations he concluded also that the poison of foxglove plants in their bodies more, since the effect of the drug increased with prolonged administration. In 1785 he published his famous treatise then " An account of the foxglove and its medical uses".

However, this form of therapy sat down initially and not only after 1850 Digitalis was prescribed more frequently. Contributed to this, the investigations of French physician Drebeyne (1786-1867), who found that digitalis not only has a diuretic effect, but also strengthens the heart action. The chemist native Elle could then isolate the active ingredient 1868. Further pharmacological studies in the second half of the 19th century then led to a determination of a number of other active ingredients in related with the Red Foxglove Foxglove species. They also discovered that plants also species of other families cardioactive substances - contained so -called digitaloid. The plant species in which it was discovered similar active ingredients, included the lily of the valley, oleander and the Christmas rose. Only the squill counted among the discovered as a result of investigations Witherings medicinal plants to the species that were already known to the medicine of antiquity.

The active ingredients of foxglove are cardiac glycosides, which are now mainly obtained from the woolly foxglove. Cardiac glycosides stimulate the weakened heart muscle to contract more strongly again. In the therapeutic use of digitalis the heart rate lowering effect of digitalis is always more prominent towards the strengthening of the cardiac output.

All parts of the Red thimble are highly toxic. Even the consumption of two to three foxglove leaves can be fatal. Because of the bitter taste rarely, too, however. Iatrogenic ( = caused by medical measures) poisoning can occur in therapy, since the effect of digitalis width is small. The first signs of poisoning are nausea, vomiting, tinnitus, dizziness and a decrease in heart rate below 50 beats per minute.

Foxglove in superstition

The legends, especially the English and Irish after which the thimble elf people serves as a head covering. Evil fairies are the flowers have once given as gloves foxes so they could silently wreaking havoc in the chicken houses. The drawing of the flowers should therefore result from the fingerprints of the unlucky fairies.

Foxglove in the literature

In Theodor Fontane's novel The Stechlin the foxglove appears as a symbol of the impending end of life:

Dubslav held the small bottle up to the light and dribbled the prescribed number in a spoon full of water. When he had taken her, he moved his lips back and forth, such as when an expert is rehearsing a new type of wine. Then he nodded and said, "Yes., Engelke, nu we go, thimble "

System

The first publication of Digitalis purpurea was in 1753 by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, page 621

Subspecies of Digitalis purpurea are for example:

• Digitalis purpurea subsp. amandiana ( Samp. ) Hinz ( Syn: Digitalis amandiana Samp. ): It comes in Portugal only in Braganca, Porto and Vila Real before.
• Digitalis purpurea L. subsp. purpurea ( syn.. Digitalis miniana Samp, digitalis nevadensis Kunze, Digitalis purpurea var tomentosa ( Hoffmanns. & Link ) Bread, digitalis tomentosa Hoffmann & Link. . )