THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Foxglove

Lisa Karen Miller

          The Roman goddess Flora touched Hera on her breasts and belly with this flower to impregnate her with the god Mars. It has been associated with midwifery and women’s magic ever since. 

          In medieval gardens it was sacred to the Virgin Mary. Poultices were used to treat headaches and inflammations.

           Wise women in Shropshire, England, made an herbal mixture to treat dropsy – the retention of fluids characteristic of congestive heart failure.  Its primary ingredient was foxglove. It was believed to have medicinal power only if collected with the left hand.

          An ancient remedy for heart disease, this tall beauty yields Digitalin, the heart-regulating medicine.  Digitalis, the plant substance from which the drug is made, was one of the Golden Age crime writers’ favorite poisons.

          In Kent, England, stalks were used to make parasol handles. In the Scottish borderlands, its leaves were strewn around cradles to protect babies from bewitchment, and Shropshire folk put them in children’s shoes for the same reason.  In the north of England, though, bringing foxglove into the house allows the devil to enter.               

         In the language of flowers, it says insincerity and treacherous magnificence, as well as “You are beautiful but careless!”

          Its common name originated as “Folk’s Glove,” folk referring to the fairies.  These were not the delightful winged creatures popular literature has given us, but often malicious pranksters who were not above stealing a child if they weren’t given a treat now and again.  They often would leave a doppelganger in its place – hence the saying “Away with the fairies.”  If this did happen, the juice of a foxglove would help to get the child back.  

          Leaving out a thimble full of honey or a few cake crumbs could be enough to appease them, so they would go off and work their mischief on a more miserly neighbor.

          Another tale says the bell-like blossoms would make a magical sound when rung. Fairies taught the foxes how to play a tune that alerted other foxes when a hunt was coming near. They also let the foxes wear them as gloves so they wouldn’t be heard entering the henhouse (or leave paw prints?).

           The appearance of foxgloves in the wild signals the presence of fairies. They seem to bob and sway even when there is no wind – this is the plant bowing to the fairy folk as they pass by. If you want to attract fairies to your garden, plant some foxgloves.

           Just don’t forget the cake.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller