CLASS XIV. ORDER 11.] DIGITALIS. 865 



Capsule ovale, of two cells, two valved, with the margins inflexed. 

 — Name from Digitale, the finger of a glove ; which its flowers 

 resemble. 



1. D. purpu'rea, Linn. (Fig. 1002.) purple Fox-glove. Leaves 

 ovate lanceolate, crenate, the lower ones peliolated beneath, and the 

 pedicles tomentose ; calyx with ovate acute segments; corolla large, 

 campanulate, smooth externally, the upper lip obtuse, slightly notched, 

 the lower broad, ovate, rounded, entire. 



English Botany, t. 1297. — English Flora, vol. iii. p. 141. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 240. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 192. 



Root of numerous long branched fibres. Stem erect, from three to 

 four feet high, simple, slightly angular, clothed with soft close 

 pubescence. Leaves large, alternate, ovate lanceolate, rugose, with 

 prominent netted veins, clothed especially beneath with soft close 

 pressed woolliness, the margins crenated, the lower leaves tapering into 

 somewhat winged footstalks, the upper wiih an attenuated point, 

 sessile. Inflorescence a terminal raceme, the fiotvers numerous, large, 

 purple, drooping, sometimes pure white or spotted. Bracteas lanceo- 

 late, shorter than the round slender downy pedicle, drooping, in flower 

 becoming erect. Calyx in five ovate acute three ribbed pubescent 

 segments. Corolla large, bell-shaped, obtuse, smooth externally, of a 

 fine deep purple, within downy, and scattered over with dark purple 

 spots, with a white border, the mouih oblique, the upper lip very 

 narrow, obtuse, slightly notched, the lower longer, broadly ovate, 

 entire, rounded. Stamens arising from the base of the corolla, the 

 filaments linear, smooth, bent at the base. Anthers of two spreading 

 lobes. Style thread-shaped, as long as the stamens. Stigma cleft. 

 Capsules ovate, acutely pointed, smooth. Seeds very numerous, small, 

 angular. 



Habitat. — Waste and cultivated places in a sandy or stony soil ; 

 frequent, especially in subalpine districts. 



Biennial ; flowering in June and July. 



Fox-glove is perhaps the most beautiful and stately looking of all 

 our herbaceous plants; it flourishes equally well under cultivation, and 

 many extremely beautiful coloured varieties are obtained. Its use, 

 however, is not only that of a beautiful showy flower, but its leaves 

 possess most valuable medicinal properties which are diuretic and 

 sedative ; for medical use the leaves only are the parts used, and these 

 should be gathered dry, and the best and most vigorous leaves selected 

 when the plant begins to flower, and they should be dried separately, 

 hung up in a warm shady place, and when perfectly dry, tbe thin 

 parts of the leaf alone should be powdered, and then kept in close 

 stoppered dark coloured bottles, and enveloped in paper to exclude the 

 light. Besides this form of preparation the leaves are made into 

 tincture and extract; but the powder renewed every year is the best 

 and most efficacious. It is a remarkable property of this plant, that 



