Red thimble

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Red thimble
Red foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Red foxglove ( Digitalis purpurea )

Systematics
Asterids
Euasterids I
Order : Mint family (Lamiales)
Family : Plantain family (Plantaginaceae)
Genre : Thimbles ( digitalis )
Type : Red thimble
Scientific name
Digitalis purpurea
L.

The Foxglove ( Digitalis purpurea ), also thimble, cinquefoil, Fuchs herb Schwulstkraut, our-love-women glove, forest bells, called Forest clamp is a plant from the genus of foxgloves ( Digitalis ) in the family of Plantain Family (Plantaginaceae). The generic name Digitalis is derived from the Latin word digitus for finger and refers to the characteristic flower shape.

All parts of the plant are highly toxic. Eating just two leaves can lead to fatal poisoning . The red foxglove was voted poisonous plant of the year in 2007.

description

illustration

The red foxglove usually grows as a biennial , herbaceous plant . In the first year it forms a basal leaf rosette , from which in the following year a mostly unbranched, leafy stem sprouts up to 200 cm high . This half-rosette plant sprouts from the basal axillary buds less often in further years. The basal, up to 20 cm long foliage leaves are long stalked and have a wedge-shaped narrow base, the upper ones are sessile. The leaf position is spiral, the sixth leaf is exactly above the first, which corresponds to a divergence angle of 144 degrees with two revolutions. The egg-shaped leaf blade is hairy on both sides, gray-white underneath, the leaf margin serrate noticeably.

Many flowers stand together in the terminal, racemose inflorescence . The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic . The five purple-red-violet or rarely white petals are fused into a 4 to 6 cm long, thimble-like crown, which is hairy on the inside and bare outside. The crown is two-lipped with a conspicuously spotted lower lip. There are four stamens . The scar is bilobed. The flowering period extends from June to August.

Egg-shaped capsule fruits are formed with a length of about 12 mm , which open mainly along the septic walls (septicidal) and contain many small seeds with a length of about 0.5 mm . The fruit ripens in August.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 56, less often 112.

 

ecology

The racemose inflorescences are one-sided due to their orientation towards the light (positive phototropic). If the foxglove is in full sun, its flowers point south. The single flowers are directed obliquely downwards. These are "pharynx flowers" with the inner wall tightly fitting anthers and scars. Small insects are prevented from entering the flowers by upright locking hairs; usually only bumblebees can penetrate ("creeping flower"). The protruding lower part of the flower bell serves as a landing platform for you. When the insect reaches the nectar, it brushes the stamens with its back, which can be loaded with pollen.

The flowers are pre-male ; they bloom on the inflorescence from bottom to top. If the lower ones are in the female stage, the upper ones are only in the male stage. Since bumblebees always approach inflorescences from the bottom up, cross- pollination is ensured. The dark and light-edged spots on the inside of the flower were previously interpreted as sap marks. In the meantime it has been shown that the flowers are approached only five times less often when the spots are covered; the spots are therefore interpreted today as dummy dust bags. The lifespan of the flowers is about six days. Sometimes a monstrous giant bloom appears (pseudo- pelorie ). The flowers contain the anthocyanin cyanine .

  • White variant

  • white thimble

  • Red foxglove with giant flowers (pseudo-pelorie)

  • Opened capsule fruit

The many small seeds are "balloon flyers". The capsule fruits are wind and animal spreaders. The seeds are light germs . The red foxglove is a long-day plant .

Occurrence

The red foxglove is native to western Europe as well as western southern, central and northern Europe and Morocco . In North and South America it was introduced in areas. In Germany it has its natural distribution area as far as the Harz Mountains and the Thuringian Forest , but occurs today wildly throughout the country.

The red foxglove can be found scattered but sociable on clear cuts, especially in the mountains, on forest paths and in forest clearings. It prefers fresh, lime-poor, acidic, loose, humus-rich soil in sunny to partially shaded locations.

According to Ellenberg , it is a half-light plant, a moderate heat pointer with oceanic distribution, a freshness pointer, an acid pointer and, in Central Europe, a character species of the Epilobio-Digitalietum purpureae from the association of willowherb forest clearing corridors (Epilobion angustifolii).

It has been used as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens in temperate regions since the 16th century .

Use in herbal medicine

Zygomorphic flowers in detail
Habit with one-sided inflorescence
Color variations

The red foxglove has long been known in folk medicine as a remedy for heart failure (heart failure) and has been used medicinally since the late 18th century.

This striking plant was not given great importance in the Middle Ages or in ancient times. A recipe collection in Welsh from the 12th or 13th century mentions for the first time an external use of the leaves.

Also Leonhart Fuchs reported in the German edition of his herbal book (1543, Cap CCCXLV.): "If beautiful funny to watch in summary a herb habs Wherefore nit announce übergeen, without regard that there in no is need bey the ärtzeten so vil and me consciously. ”But he also reports under Krafft und Würckung , what it is used for in folk medicine, and then concludes:“ And all in all, have all the effects that Entian has, which we have told you about in each chapter. If you want to know it, you can look for it in the intended place and read it. ” Tabernaemontanus also did not know of any medical use for this plant in 1588 :

"What are these Kreuter used for / I do not find with the Authorn."

At that time, however, it was already being used in Ireland, combined with magical customs it was supposed to help against the " evil eye ". The English used the plant as an emetic , to promote expectoration in bronchitis and around 1700 even against consumption . In 1748, experiments by the Académie Française showed that after foxgloves were fed to turkeys, their hearts, livers, gall bladder and lungs had shrunk. This meant that the English also used the thimble less often.

It was not until the English doctor William Withering that he went back to an old family recipe (for the treatment of dropsy) in 1775 and used the leaves of the red foxglove to successfully treat water retention ( edema ) that was due to a weak heart. Allegedly, the wife of one of his patients confessed to him that she had asked a herbalist for help. However - as the legend claims - the herbalist did not want to reveal the name and location of the plant to him; he had her observed and found that the herbal woman's elixir contained digitalis. From 1776 to 1779, Withering conducted a series of experiments on dozen of his cardiac patients. On the basis of his observations, he also concluded that the phytotoxin of the thimble accumulated in the body, as the effect of the drug increased with longer administration. In 1785 he published his famous treatise "An account of the Foxglove and its medical uses".

Foxglove Digitalis purpurea (leaves)

However, this form of therapy did not catch on initially, and it was only after 1850 that digitalis was prescribed more frequently. The investigations of the French doctor Drebeyne (1786–1867), who found out that digitalis not only has a diuretic effect, but also strengthens the heart's activity, contributed to this. The chemist Nativelle was then able to isolate the active ingredient in 1868. Further pharmacological investigations in the second half of the 19th century then led to the determination of a number of other active substances in foxglove species related to the red foxglove. It was also discovered that plant species from other families also contained substances that act on the heart - so-called digitaloids . The plant species in which comparable active ingredients were found included the lily of the valley , the oleander and the Christmas rose . Only the sea ​​onion counted among the medicinal plants discovered as a result of Withering's investigations, among the species that were already known to ancient medicine . In 1874 Oswald Schmiedeberg (1838–1921) succeeded in obtaining digitoxin as the first pure glycoside.

The active ingredients in foxglove are cardiac glycosides , which today are mainly obtained from woolly foxgloves . Cardiac glycosides stimulate the weakened heart muscle to contract more strongly again. In the therapeutic use of digitalis, the heart rate lowering effect of digitalis is more and more in the foreground compared to strengthening cardiac output.

All parts of the red foxglove plant are highly toxic. Consuming two to three foxglove leaves can be fatal. However, due to the bitter taste, it rarely happens. Iatrogenic poisoning (= caused by medical measures) can occur as part of a therapy, as the range of effects of the digitalis glycosides is small. The first signs of poisoning are nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, dizzy spells and a drop in heart rate below 50 beats per minute.

Thimble in superstition

According to the English and Irish legends in particular, the foxgloves are used as headgear for the elven people. Evil fairies are said to have once given the flowers to the foxes as gloves so that they could do their thing in the chicken coops silently. The drawing of the flowers should therefore come from the fingerprints of the unlucky fairies.

Thimble in literature

In Theodor Fontane's novel Der Stechlin , the thimble appears as a symbol of the impending end of life:

Dubslav held the small bottle up to the light and dripped the prescribed number into a spoonful of water. When he had taken it, he moved his lips back and forth, like when a connoisseur is trying a new type of wine. Then he nodded and said: “Yes, Engelke, here we go. Thimble."

Systematics

The first publication of Digitalis purpurea was made in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum , S. 621st

Examples of subspecies of Digitalis purpurea are:

  • Digitalis purpurea subsp. amandiana (Samp.) Hinz (Syn .: Digitalis amandiana Samp. ): It occurs in Portugal only in Braganca, Porto and Vila Real. According to K. Marhold, however, it is not an independent subspecies, but as a synonym for Digitalis purpurea subsp. purpurea .
  • Digitalis purpurea subsp. purpurea (Syn .: Digitalis miniana Samp. , Digitalis Nevadensis Kunze , Digitalis purpurea var. tomentosa (Hoffmanns. & Link) bread. , Digitalis tomentosa Hoffmanns. & Link )
  • Digitalis purpurea subsp. bocquetii Valdés : It occurs in Spain.
  • Digitalis purpurea subsp. gyspergerae (Rouy) Rouy : It occurs in Corsica.
  • Digitalis purpurea subsp. heywoodii P. Silva & M. Silva : It occurs in Spain and Portugal.
  • Digitalis purpurea subsp. mariana (Boiss.) Rivas Goday : It occurs in Spain and Portugal.

Common names

Made or for the Red Fingerhut passed other following German trivial name : Blatzblummen ( Ruhla ), finger Hood ( Münsterland ) Fingerhütlein ( Alsace ), foxglove, brown thimble, cinquefoil, finger beeping (Münsterland), hand steles, Klaprause ( Göttingen ), Forest clamps and Waltglöcklin.

See also

swell

Web links

Commons : Red Foxglove ( Digitalis purpurea )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 846 .
  2. ^ A b Digitalis purpurea in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
  3. ↑ Distribution map at FloraWeb
  4. ^ Jean Marie Pelt: The secrets of medicinal plants , Verlag Knesebeck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-89660-291-8 , p. 106 ff
  5. ^ Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke , Christoph Friedrich , Ulrich Meyer: Medicinal history . 2., revised. and exp. Ed. Wiss. Verl.-Ges, Stuttgart January 1, 2005, p. 76 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Karol Marhold, 2011: Scrophulariaceae : Data sheet Digitalis purpurea In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.
  7. ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, page 135. ( online ).