If anyone consumes any part of the foxglove plant, do not induce vomiting. It’s also an excellent reason NOT to prepare your own herbal medicines, tea, or food from wild plants or plants growing in your garden unless you are an expert and know how to do so safely. Both can be dangerous and life threatening.įoxglove is one of many reasons to watch children closely when they play outdoors. This can cause the heart rate to slow down or become irregular. People who eat any part of the plant or make tea from the leaves are, in essence, taking an unregulated dose of heart medicine. When formulated into a medication with a controlled dosage, digitalis is valuable in treating heart failure. In fact, the medicine is derived from this plant, and that is why measuring digoxin (a form of digitalis) concentrations in the blood can help detect foxglove poisoning. You might recognize 'digitalis' as the name of a heart medicine.

The botanical name for foxglove is Digitalis purpurea. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous. Both the flowers and berries attract children. Foxglove also has a dry fruit containing many seeds. Its bell-shaped flowers are usually bright purple but can sometimes be white, cream yellow, pink, or rose and generally bloom in the spring. It grows in the wild and is cultivated in private gardens for its beauty. Foxglove is an attractive plant that grows throughout the United States.

Digoxin antidote