This beauty is a digitalis campanulata (foxglove).
The generic epithet Digitalis is from the Latin digitus (finger).[6] Leonhart Fuchs first invented the name for this plant in his 1542 book De historia stirpium commentarii insignes, based upon the German vernacular name Fingerhut,[7][8] which translates literally as 'finger hat', but actually means 'thimble'.
The name is recorded in Old English as 'foxes glofe/glofa' or 'fox's glove'.[9] Over time, folk myths obscured the literal origins of the name, insinuating that foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence their movements as they stealthily hunted their prey. The woody hillsides where the foxes made their dens were often covered with the toxic flowers. Some of the more menacing names, such as "witch's glove", reference the toxicity of the plant
The name is recorded in Old English as 'foxes glofe/glofa' or 'fox's glove'.[9] Over time, folk myths obscured the literal origins of the name, insinuating that foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence their movements as they stealthily hunted their prey. The woody hillsides where the foxes made their dens were often covered with the toxic flowers. Some of the more menacing names, such as "witch's glove", reference the toxicity of the plant
Advertisements
27 March 2024
Advertisements
