Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Original title: Dedaleira (Digitalis purpurea)
Foxglove, a common poisonous biennial in Madeira with medicinal uses.
A biennial plant of the family Scrophulariaceae, very common in Madeira. Its flowers, which hang in an elongated raceme, have large, tubular-bell-shaped, purplish-pink corollas, marked inside with darker spots ringed with white.
Foxglove is highly poisonous and in a large dose causes death; in a moderate dose it is useful in diseases of the heart, asthma, rheumatism, etc. Digitalin is the active principle of foxglove. Madeirans sometimes call foxglove teijeira, but the true teijeira (lesser burdock) is Lappa minor, a plant of the family Compositae, which is also found on the island.