Las digitales (Digitalis ssp.) o dedaleras son un género de una veintena de especies de hierbas y arbustos, de la familia de las escrofulariáceas, nativas de Europa, Asia Menor y África del norte. Producen flores de corola tubular, y colores variados según especies y variedades; la más conocida de las especies de Digitalis es la Digitalis purpurea, de la que se extrae la digitalina, un glucósido de potente acción cardiotónica. D. purpurea y otras especies de Digitalis son fuertemente tóxicas, pero se utilizan más o menos ampliamente como ornamentales en jardinería.Existe también la especie Digitalis mertonensis, un híbrido de la D. grandiflora y la D. purpurea. Es perenne, resistente al frío, de 1 m de altura y florece en verano con flores de color salmón a rosado. Las hojas son rosetas ovales y vellosas.

Leer el artículo completo en Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA

Digitalis (/ˌdɪdʒᵻˈteɪlᵻs/ or /ˌdɪdʒᵻˈtælᵻs/) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and biennials commonly called foxgloves. This genus was traditionally placed in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, but recent phylogenetic research has placed it in the much enlarged family Plantaginaceae. This genus is native to western and southwestern Europe, western and central Asia, Australasia and northwestern Africa. The scientific name means "finger-like" and refers to the ease with which a flower of Digitalis purpurea can be fitted over a human fingertip. The flowers are produced on a tall spike, are tubular, and vary in colour with species, from purple to pink, white, and yellow. The best-known species is the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. This biennial plant is often grown as an ornamental plant due to its vivid flowers which range in colour from various purple tints through various shades of light gray, and to purely white. The flowers can also possess various marks and spottings. The first year of growth of the common foxglove produces only the stem with its long, basal leaves. During the second year of the plant's life, a long, leafy stem from 50 to 255 centimeters tall grows atop the roots of healthy plants. Larvae of the foxglove pug, a moth, consume the flowers of the common foxglove for food. Other species of Lepidoptera eat the leaves, including the lesser yellow underwing. The term digitalis is also used for drug preparations that contain cardiac glycosides, particularly one called digoxin, extracted from various plants of this genus.

Leer el artículo completo en Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA