foxglove

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a tall plant of the genus Digitalis with spikes of tubular, usually purple, pink, or white flowers

   Purple foxgloves grew beside the woodland path.

2. 2
   noun

   a source of digitalis compounds used in heart medicines but poisonous in uncontrolled doses

   The pharmacist warned that foxglove is toxic despite its medical uses.

From Middle English fox-glove and Old English foxes glofa, literally 'fox's glove'. The reason for the name is uncertain; its glove-like tubular flowers encouraged later folklore and reinterpretation.

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