Foxglove
Digitalis purpurea
Tall biennial spires of tubular flowers. Source of cardiac glycosides used as prescription drugs in controlled contexts. Not a tea, not a wild edible, not a ‘heart tonic’ for the pantry.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
What it is
Tall biennial spires of tubular flowers. Source of cardiac glycosides used as prescription drugs in controlled contexts. Not a tea, not a wild edible, not a ‘heart tonic’ for the pantry.
Identification
Basal rosette of fuzzy leaves; second-year spike of thimble flowers, spotted inside.
From the existing encyclopedia
Foxglove is a tall biennial with tubular purple flowers containing cardiac glycosides such as digoxin. It is a historical source of heart medicines discovered through toxicology, not kitchen use. Never consume foxglove leaves, flowers, or seeds; misidentification has caused fatal poisonings. This page is botanical education only. Do not forage or sell foxglove for ingestion.
Edible portions
Safety Not treated as food on this site.
Growing
- Climate. 4–8 biennial
- Light. Part shade to sun
- Soil. Well-drained, humusy
- Planting. Ornamental only. Self-sows in cool gardens.
- Harvest. Do not harvest for ingestion.
Safety
- Toxic if ingested. Misidentification with comfrey or other rosettes has caused poisonings. This page exists so you do not put foxglove in a tea mix.
- Toxic if ingested. Not for home medicine or foraging teas.
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- No USDA FoodData Central nutrient profile is attached here. That is not a claim that the plant contains no nutrients.
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
- Integrated from the existing aaaLifetime / quantum-biohack encyclopedia corpus (unique text preserved where it was not boilerplate).
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class A. Strong page: distinctive plant facts plus practical growing or kitchen use.