PL ex. cor. 25. SCROFULARIAL 82. Digitalis. 325 
VII. 82. DIGITALIS. Gesner. Foxglove . 
Calyx 5- sepal ed ; sepales unequal ; corolla bellshape, 
bellied; limb oblique, 4 or 5-lobed; lobes unequal; stigma 
simple ; capsule ovate, pointed, 2- celled ; dissepiments 
double from the inflected edges of the valves ; seeds very 
numerous, rather prismatic. — Leaves alternate ; flowers 
spiked, terminal. 
Digitalis speciosa. Handsome foxglove. 
Sepales ovate, acute; lobes of the corolla blunt ; upper 
lobe not cut ; leaves ovate, lanceolate, wrinkled, pubescent. 
Digitalis purpurea, Itaii Syn. 283 * ; Ger. em. 790, 1 ; Lin , 5. P. 866. 
Digitalis purpurea vulgaris, Park. 653. 
Digitalis speciosa, Salisb. Prod . 100. 
Woods; perennial; June and July. 
Stem 4 feet high, upright, downy; leaves petioled, crenate; 
spike upright, many-flowered ; flowers purple and white, with 
blood-coloured spots and hairs. — The old authors recom- 
mend it as a pulmonary and epileptic medicine boiled in 
wine or water, without any particular caution : the leaves 
are now considered as one of our most valuable diuretics 
in dropsy, either in powder, infusion, or tincture, and as a 
sedative in pulmonary consumption; but it must be em- 
ployed with care, as it has a great effect in reducing arterial 
action and retarding the pulse, and this action is frequently 
exerted suddenly, by the accumulated effects of small doses, 
so that if the practitioner be not constantly on his guard, 
he may be surprised by the occurrence of fatal symptoms 
and lose his patient, even after he has relinquished the use 
of the medicine. 
Fam. IX. 26. SOLANEiE. Jussieu. 
Calyx 5-cut or 5-parted, persisting; corolla regular, 5- cut, 
deciduous : aestivation plaited ; stamens 5, at the base of the 
corolla, alternate with the lobes; ovary 1, free, 2 or 4-celled, 
many-seeded ; style 1 ; stigma blunt, rarely 2-furrowed ; 
pericarp 2 to 4-celled ; capsular 2-valved ; dissepiments pa- 
rallel and double, or berried ; placentarium central, adnate 
to the dissepiment ; seeds numerous, sessile ; perisperm 
fleshy ; corculum enclosed, curved or spiral, excentric ; ra- 
dicle near the hilum ; cotyledons half-round. — Herbs or 
shrubs ; leaves alternate ; flowers mostly extrafoliaceous, 
pedicelled, bracteated, or rarely spiked. 
