I've always known this flower as foxglove. I like that name; it sounds like something from a fairy story. You can imagine a tale about fairies planting these flowers so the foxes would have gloves to make them more quiet, or protect their paws in some way.
But, apparently, there are other names. Foxglove can be poisonous. And in some parts of Europe, people saw bells instead of gloves. Here are some other traditional names:
Witches' Gloves
Dead Man's Bells
Dog’s Finger
Fairy Fingers
Fairy Gloves
Finger Flower
Folks’ Glove
Lion’s Mouth
Ladies’ Glove
Gloves of Our Lady
Fairy Caps
Fairy Thimbles, and
Virgin’s Glove
After looking at all these names, I would love to hear story about "Witches Gloves" - that sounds like the makings of a great fairy tale.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
How many names are there?
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The genus is "Digitalis," which refers to heartrate - the Wikipedia entry on the plant includes some of the reasons why it has had important medicinal uses - but it's very toxic, which is why maybe it has all those sorcery associations - people have died from drinking tea brewed from its leaves. Fascinating.
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