This plant can kill you ☠️🌷
The common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a staple in cottage style gardens and can be found growing naturally across the UK in woodlands, heathlands, gardens and hedgerows.
All parts are highly poisonous, ingestion can lead to symptoms including nausea, headaches and stomach pain. Severe cases can even lead to death, that’s because they contain cardiac glycosides – compounds that can fatally affect heart rate.
Interestingly those deadly compounds also save many lives each year. Cardiac glycosides are used in drugs to treat patients with heart issues (for example heart failure) by helping the heart to pump blood more efficiently 🫀✅
It should go without saying… do not eat any parts of this plant!
📸 Image credit: Taylor Cowling
