Digitalis purpurea
From Bugwoodwiki
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Overview
- Appearance
- Digitalis purpurea is an herbaceous biennial or short lived perennial plant.
- Foliage
- The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, 3.9-13.8 in. (10-35 cm) long and 2-4.7 in. (5-12 cm) broad, and are covered with gray-white pubescent and glandular hairs. The foliage forms a tight rosette at ground level in the first year.
- Flowers
- The flowering stem develops in the second year, from about 3.3-6.6 ft. (1-2 m) tall. 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, under cultivation, may be pink, rose, yellow, or white. The corolla is spotted inside the bottom of the tube. Flowers in early summer.
- Fruit
- The fruit is a capsule which splits open at maturity to release the numerous tiny 0.004-0.007 in. (0.1-0.2 mm) seeds.
- Ecological Threat
- Due to the cardiac glycoside digitoxin, in the leaves, flowers and seeds of this plant, it is poisonous to humans and some animals and can be fatal if eaten.
Resources
University of California, Jepson Flora Project [1]
California Invasive Plant Council [2]
USDA NRCS PLANTS [3]
USDA ARS GRIN [4]
Wildscreen Arkive[5]
Cornell University [6]
Images from Bugwood.org
