DIGITALIS 



617 



ing tannin extend from the epidermal layers to the fibrovascular 

 bundles. 



DIGITALIS. Fox Glove. The leaves of Digitalis purpurea 

 (Fam. Scrophulariacese), a biennial herb (Figs. 270, 271, 272 and 274) 

 in various parts of Europe, and the western United States and Canada, 

 also extensively cultivated. The leaves are collected throughout the 

 summer from July to September, during the flowering of the plant, 

 the best product being gathered in June prior to the expansion of the 

 flowers. The leaves are carefully dried in the shade (preferably with 

 the leaves on the stem as in the drying of tobacco), and stored so 



FIG. 270. Digitalis purpurea: Leaf variations in different plants. It will be 

 noted that the leaves vary in shapes, margins and character of the petioles. 

 There is also considerable difference in the color of the leaves and their 

 surfaces. These variations seem too great and diversified to be explained 

 as individual variabilities. After Miller, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 300. 



(probably indigenous to central and southern Europe, and naturalized) 

 that they will not become moulded. While ordinarily the leaves of 

 the second year's plant are only collected, the leaves of the first year 

 seem to be more active. It has also been considered that the 

 leaves from cultivated plants are superior to those from wild plants, 

 but this is probably due to the more careful drying and storing of the 

 former. 



The most active digitalis is not necessarily the best from a 

 pharmacological point of view, and pharmacologists prefer to use 



