Dedaleira (Digitalis purpurea)

Biennial plant of the family Scrophulariaceae, very common in Madeira. Its flowers, which are pendulous and arranged in an elongated cluster, have large, tubular-campanulate, purplish-pink corollas, with darker spots on the inside, surrounded by white.

The foxglove is very poisonous, and in high doses it causes death; in moderate doses it is useful in heart disease, asthma, rheumatism, etc.. Digitalin is the active principle of the foxglove.

The Madeirans sometimes call the foxglove teijeira, but the true teijeira is the Lappe minor, a plant of the Compositae family, which is also found on the island.