Cadence
by Connie Handscomb
Title
Cadence
Artist
Connie Handscomb
Medium
Photograph - Photography - Fine Art
Description
Foxglove (folk's glove; fairy's glove) (for its poisonous nature: witches' gloves; dead men's bells)
Digitalis purpurea
Family - Figwort
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Clouds, torsos, shells, peppers, trees, rock, smokestacks are but interdependent, interrelated parts of a whole, which is life - Life rhythms felt in no matter what, become symbols of the whole.
~ Edward Weston [fr. Edward Weston, Photographer]
Foxglove, foxglove what see you now?
The soft summer moonlight
on bracken, grass and bough;
and all the fairies dancing
as only they know how.
~ Cicely Mary Barker
The mottlings of the blossoms of the Foxglove .... , like the spots on the butterfly wings and on the tails of peacocks and pheasants, were said to be the mark where the elves had placed their fingers ... (Grieve 1982,p.323)
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The foxglove is a wildflower native to North America, and Britain. The genus name Digitalis is from the Latin digitus, meaning finger, referring to the flower's shape, and that a finger can be inserted into it, like a thimble (digitabulum = thimble). Purpurea is the species name meaning Purple.
The first year of this plant's life, one sees only leaves; the blooms follow in the second year, with heights up to six feet tall. The heart medication, digitalis, comes from the foxglove. The leaves, flowers, and seeds all contain a cardiac glycosicde digitoxin (which, if ingested, can be fatal). (While the Digitalis purpurea is the first source of digitalis glycosides, it was later discovered in southeast Europe that Digitalis lanata is even more concentrated.) The dried leaves from both are used, grown commercially in Netherlands, Hungary, Argentina (just one digoxin product currently marketed worth $50milllion annually. Neither digoxin nor digitoxin have yet been synthesized.
Foxglove is also used to improve circulation, and kidney functions. The leaves have been used externally for centuries as a poultice to heal wounds. Decoctions have been used to reduce swelling, for headaches, ulcers, and inflammations.
An old myth states that foxes used the flowers to sheath their paws & allow them to make night raids to steal chickens. In Wales, centuries ago, black dye was made from the plant to paint crossed lines on the floor to ward off evil. And if you believe in fairies, this plant will bring them to you :)
Sources:
Coastal Beauty: Wildflowers and Flowering Shrubs of Coastal British Columbia and Vancouver Island (Jennings)
Plants For People [Anna Lewington]
The Language Of Plants: A Guide To The Doctrine Of Signatures [Julia Graves]
The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Magical Plants [S. Gregg]
Wild Herbs Of Bowen Island: Some Common Medicinal Pants Of The BC Coast [L. Jamieson]
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While the foxglove is customarily viewed straight on, I found the profile of the gentle, rhythmical stacks of soft, tubular floral bells to be both calming, and aesthetically appealing.
Taken in natural light ; Undedited; Uncropped, : Nature in all its natural splendour.
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Uploaded
October 10th, 2015
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