16 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



19. The planl Known to the trade as Digitalis grandi- 

 flora. It is probably D. ambigua 



doors all winter, and they do not flower until 

 the second year. The safest way, and the 

 onlv way to get the best results from the 

 choice strains, is to sow the seed in August 

 or early September, carry the plants over the 

 winter in coldframes, and set them outdoors 

 the following spring, when they will flower 

 splendidly. This saves a year, in a way, 

 making the foxglove a sort of annual. It is 

 worth all the trouble, if any one wants some- 

 thing better than his neighbors. 



'Of the eighteen known species, not more 

 than eight are worth cultivating, and of 

 course the common one is best. The second 

 place I should give to the woolly foxglove 

 (D. lanata), but the whole collection is worth 

 growing (if you like to grow "collections"), 

 and inasmuch as seeds can be cheaply im- 

 ported from Germany and France the whole 

 set could be had for a dollar. 



All the kinds are easily raised from seed. 

 Sow these in a warm bed or flat, and prick 

 off the young plants when two or three inches 

 high into frames, nursery rows, or permanent 

 borders. When once established, the peren- 

 nial kinds can, of course, be divided with a 

 spade. 



When the seed is sown in spring, the plants 

 should be grown one summer in the nursery 

 before being transplanted to the border. 



The common foxglove is a very valuable 

 plant for old-fashioned gardens (which are 











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20. Spires of the common old-fashioned fox- 

 glove (Digitalis purpurea). It grows two or three 

 feet high and has purplish flowers about two 

 inches long. The throat is spotted 



just now the new fashion), for borders and 

 for park bedding. In most cases they should 

 have a good background, such as trees, shrub- 

 bery, or a wall. They should not be planted 

 with anything which overtops them, and 

 great care should be taken not to bring them 

 alongside other flowers with dazzling colors, 

 especially reds. Generally they look best 

 when standing rather by themselves, or in 

 borders where they plainly predominate. 



INDEX TO SPECIES OF DIGITALIS 

 Species in black-faced type : synonyms in Italic ; varieties 

 in Roman. 



ambigua, 6. lanata, ~. 



ferruginea, 5. Mariana, 2. 



gloxinijeflora, 1. monstrosa, 1. 

 gloxiniaeflora alba, 1. ochroleuca, 6. 



grandiflora, 6. purpurea, 1. 



laciniata, 8. Sibirica, 7. 



laevigata, 4. Thapsi, 3. 



HOW TO USE THE KEY 

 If you have a flower and want to know whether 

 it is correctly named (probably one quarter of the 

 trade names are more or less inaccurate), the 

 " key " will help you to settle the matter in two 

 minutes, without reading eight tedious descrip- 

 tions which don't distinguish. First choose be- 

 tween the A's, then between the B's, and so on. 

 The indention also helps the eye. A common- 

 sense key for horticulturists should be based on 

 garden characters, such as the color of the flowers, 

 the season of bloom, the height of the plant, etc. 

 But these are often worthless unless checked by 

 technical botanical characters, and these are given 

 in the descriptions below, using as far as possible 

 the English language instead of the botanical. 



KEY TO THE GARDEN FOXGLOVES 

 A. Color of fls. purplish or white. 



B. Plant biennial or nearly so.i. purpurea 

 BB. Plant truly perennial. 



c. Height 1 to 2 ft 2. Mariana 



cc. Height 2 to 4 ft 3. Thapsi 



AA. Color of fls. reddish brown 4. laevigata 



AAA. Color of fls. yellow or yellowish. 



b. Height 4 to 6 ft 5. ferruginea 



BB. Height 2 to 4 ft. 



c. Fls. marked 'with brown. 6. ambigua 



cc. Fls. self-colored. 7. lanata 



bbb. Height 1 to 2 ft. S. laciniata 



DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES 



1. purpurea, Linn. Common Foxglove. A 

 biennial herb, sometimes lasting for three or four 

 years, sometimes treated more like an annual. 

 Height 2-3 ft.: leaves rough, slightly downy, long, 

 irregular spatulate : flowers large, about 2 in. long, 

 from white to purple, or yellow, spotted. Var. 

 gloxiniaeflora, Hort. is larger, more robust, with 

 larger flowers and longer spikes. This is the best 

 form for cultivation. Var- gloxiniaeflora alba is 

 white. Var. monstrosa, Hort. is a monstrous 

 variety, having a big bell-shaped blossom at the 

 apex of each raceme. 



2. Mariana, Boiss. Spanish Foxglove. Peren- 

 nial, 1—2 ft. high : flowers rose or reddish ; corolla 

 bearded on the lower part inside and marked with 

 brownish-red spots. Spain. 



3. Thapsi, Linn. Mullein-leaved Foxglove. 

 Perennial, 2-4 ft. high : leaves oblong, rugose, 

 tomentose, undulate-crenate, decurrent : flowers 

 purple, with blood-red spots. July and August. 

 Western Europe. 



4. laevigata, Waldst. Smooth Foxglove. 

 Perennial, 2-3 ft.: flowers scattered, glabrous, 

 corolla fulvous, reticulated, lip white, ciliated: 

 leaves linear-lanceolate: radical leaves obovate- 

 lanceolate. July. Danube and Greece. 



5. ferruginea, Linn (D. aurea). Rusty Fox- 

 glove. Biennial, 4-6 ft. high : stems very leafy : 

 leaves glabrous, sometimes ciliate : flowers rusty 

 yellow, more or less reticulate, downy on the out- 

 side ; low T er lip of corolla ovate, entire, bearded. 

 July. Europe. 



6. ambigua, Murr. (D. grandiflora, D. ochro- 

 leuca.) Long-flowered Foxglove. Perennial, 



21. The woolly foxglove. Digitalis lanata. It is the 

 second best species and deserves to be better Known 



2-3 ft. high : leaves ovate-lanceolate, coarsely ser- 

 rate, sessile, downy underneath : flowers 2 in. long, 

 yellowish marked with brown. Europe and \V. 

 Asia. 



7. lanata, Ehrh. (This is perhaps the same as 

 D. Sibirica.) Woolly Foxglove. Perennial, 2-3 

 ft.: leaves oblong, ciliate: flowers 1— 1^ in. long, 

 grayish or creamy yellow, downy in a dense, many- 

 flowered raceme; biacts shorter than the flowers. 

 July and August. 



S. laciniata. Lindl. Cut-leaved Foxglove. 

 Perennial, 1^-2 ft.: flowers yellow, downy, with 

 ovate bearded segments, in racemes, bracts shorter 

 than the pedicels. June. Spain. 



characters of the genus 

 Digitalis. (Family Scrophulariacea.) A genus of 

 hardy biennial or perennial herbs numbering about 

 eighteen or twenty species, of which only one 

 is commonly cultivated in gardens. Numerous 

 hybrids have been made, some of which are ap- 

 parently cultivated under species names. Flowers 

 are white, yellowish, or purplish, sometimes spotted, 

 borne in tall racemes ; corolla tubular, funnel- 

 shaped, not quite regular, 4-lobed at the top, the 

 lobes unequal and oblique, the upper segment 

 shorter than the lower segment or lip : leaves 

 usually in a large tuft at the base with a few much 

 smaller leaves along the stem. 



22. The improved or gloxinia- flowered strain of 

 foxglove, which requires special culture. The best 

 results are attained by sowing in autumn and 

 Keeping young plants over winter in coldframes 



