''Digitalis grandiflora'', the yellow foxglove, big-flowered foxglove, or large yellow foxglove, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of flowering plant in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Digitalis'',

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Plantaginaceae (formerly

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

). It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to southern Europe and Asia. In mountains it grows on warm, bushy slopes or areas left after logging. The Latin specific epithet ''grandiflora'' means “large flowered”.

Description

It is a herbaceous perennial growing from a short rootstock with fibrous roots. ''D. grandiflora'' has glossy green, veined leaves, whose flowering stem can reach a height of . The pale yellow bell-shaped flowers are spaced out on the stem, long and show a netted brown marking in their interior. In the wild plants bloom in June and July.

Cultivation

''Digitalis grandiflora'' is long lived perennial, it has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit. It is winter hardy is USDA zones 3 to 8 and grows best in moisture retentive, but well drained, organic soils in part shade. Cultivated plants in Germany bloom from June to August, in North America, flowering occurs from May to June in Missouri and from June to July in Ohio; with the typical bloom period lasting eight weeks.

Cultivars

*''Digitalis grandiflora'' 'Carillon' *''Digitalis grandiflora'' 'Temple Bells'

Hybrids

* ''Digitalis'' × ''fulva'', Lindl. 1821 (Hybrid formula: ''Digitalis grandiflora'' Mill. × ''

Digitalis purpurea ''Digitalis purpurea'', the foxglove or common foxglove, is a poisonous species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe. It has also naturalised in parts of North Am ...

'' L.).

Pharmacology

As the plant contains

cardenolide A cardenolide is a type of steroid. Many plants contain derivatives, collectively known as cardenolides, including many in the form of cardenolide glycosides (cardenolides that contain structural groups derived from sugars). Cardenolide glycoside ...

s, all parts are toxic. Its leaves contain 0.2% glycosides of the

digitoxin Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside used for the treatment of heart failure and certain kinds of heart arrhythmia. It is a phytosteroid and is similar in structure and effects to digoxin, though the effects are longer-lasting. Unlike digoxin, w ...

-type and about 0,1% of the digoxin-type. Even so, the plant is not used in the production of

cardiac glycoside Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions by inhibiting the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Their beneficial medical uses are as treatments for c ...

Gallery

File:Digitalis_grandiflora02072006.JPG, plant File:Großblütiger Fingerhut-Blüten.JPG, flowers File:Digitalis_grandiflora_BotGardBln1105FruitsA.jpg, fruits

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q157085 grandiflora Taxa named by Philip Miller