Witnessed by: Western
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), of the Plantaginaceae family. Tall biennial rosette sending up a one-sided spire of thimble-shaped flowers in the second year; native range: woodland margins, hedgebanks and heaths of western Europe. Globally recognized as purple foxglove, fairy thimbles, dead man's bells, witches' gloves in English. The part used is leaves, gathered in the second year. Soft downy grey-green leaves, intensely bitter and nauseous, with no distinctive smell.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
FOXGLOVE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- foxglove
- Scientific name
- Digitalis purpurea L.
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
Form
- Part used
- leaves, gathered in the second year
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter (intense)
Temperature
- Western
- cool (and drying)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- heart · circulation · kidneys
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- cardiotonic, positively inotropic, negatively chronotropic, diuretic
Cautions
Contraindications: ventricular tachycardia, heart block, and hypercalcaemia; never self-administered
Toxicity: one of the most dangerous of medicinal plants; cardiac glycosides accumulate, causing nausea, visual halos, arrhythmia and cardiac arrest
Interactions
- Western
- cardiac glycosides: directly additive glycoside effect risking fatal toxicity · diuretics: potassium depletion sharply increases glycoside toxicity · antihypertensives: compounded effects on cardiac conduction and blood pressure
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.