Digitalis purpurea, the foxglove or common foxglove, is a poisonous species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe. It has also naturalised in parts of North America and some other temperate regions. The plant is a popular garden subject, with many cultivars available. It is the original source of the heart medicine digoxin (also called digitalis or digitalin). This biennial plant grows as a rosette of leaves in the first year after sowing, before flowering and then dying in the second year (i.e. it is monocarpic). It generally produces enough seeds, however, so that new plants will continue to grow in a garden setting. Description Digitalis purpurea is an herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, long and broad, and are covered with gray-white pubescent and glandular hairs, imparting a woolly texture. The foliage forms a tight rosette at ground level in the first year. The flowering stem develops in the second year, typically tall, sometimes longer. The flowers are arranged in a showy, terminal, elongated cluster, and each flower is tubular and pendent. The flowers are typically purple, but some plants, especially those under cultivation, may be pink, rose, yellow, or white. The inside surface of the flower tube is heavily spotted. The flowering period is early summer, sometimes with additional flower stems developing later in the season. The plant is frequented by bees, which climb right inside the flower tube to gain the nectar within. The fruit is a capsule which splits open at maturity to release the numerous tiny 0.1-0.2 mm seeds. Subspecies and hybrids Digitalis purpurea subsp. purpurea – most of Europe and Macaronesia and widely introduced to other parts of the world. Digitalis purpurea subsp. amandiana (Samp.) P.A.Hinz – northern Portugal (specifically around the Douro Basin). Digitalis purpurea subsp. mauretanica (Humbert & Maire) A.M.Romo – Morocco. Digitalis purpurea subsp. toletana (Font Quer) P.A.Hinz – central Spain. Digitalis × fulva Lindl. 1821 (hybrid formula: D. grandiflora × purpurea). Digitalis purpurea subsp. mariana is a synonym for D. mariana subsp. mariana, and D. purpurea subsp. heywoodii is a synonym for D. mariana subsp. heywoodii. D. dubia, a name used for populations of foxglove growing among calciferous rocks on shady cliff faces on the island of Majorca, is now considered a synonym of D. minor, but until recently it had been either considered