Wednesday 1 July 2009

Foxglove Fanatic



I have something of a fixation with foxgloves at the minute.

What extraordinary plants these are, and although widespread across the planet, seem quintessentially English to me.

Propogated entirely by the wonderful bumble bee, these glorious flowers have a shelf life of just six days between opening and falling from the corolla.

It is interesting to note that while many bees and insects are attracted to the striking plant, none of them rest on it, perhaps because they recognise its poisonous character.

Well known and used for centuries to treat a variety of ailments, the plant produces the important heart drug Digitalis, highly poisonous but effective in tiny doses. Increased doses apparently cause a variety of cerebral symptoms, including seeing everything coloured blue!

A side effect of its use is loss of appetite and some desperate souls have been known to use it as an aid to weight loss.

Well, it doesn't make me blue or hungry, but it does give me enormous pleasure in the garden as the bees clamber in and out of the throats of its magnificent flowers. I have spent many hours in Devon and Cornwall marvelling at the strain of pink foxgloves that carpet the verges and embankments of those sun splashed counties.

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