Foxglove- Highly Toxic?

partyguinness

Hi All,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxglove

I was quiet shocked recently to discover that Foxglove can be highly poisonous.

Now I live in the countryside and they are all up our road etc and are a welcome part of summer as far as I can remember. Now my English friend pointed out to me that they are highly toxic...

I actually didnt believe this as surely this would have been pointed out to us growing up in school or by parents. It wasnt. This is news to anyone I have mentioned this to...including my farmer friends.

I mentioned it to my parents last night and they had no idea. My mother say the local garden shop sells them and uses them in flower displays...

Now I find it quiet shocking that the dangers of such a toxic and widely available plant is not known...:eek:...are we waiting for a death to suddenly wake up.

I cannot believe that I am only discovering this at the age of 30...am I missing something?

Here is the variety in Ireland:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalis_purpurea

The Sweeper

Why the panic-mongering? There are plenty of highly poisonous plants. Don't use any of them in a salad, and you'll be just fine. It's not like they release clouds of toxic gases as you ramble past them.

partyguinness

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Why the panic-mongering? There are plenty of highly poisonous plants. Don't use any of them in a salad, and you'll be just fine. It's not like they release clouds of toxic gases as you ramble past them.

Panic mongering? What..drawing attention via a link to widely availably plant that can be highly toxic..fact finding is hardly panic mongering.

My point is that I cant believe that this does appear to be widely known. Surely it should be.

Children play with these flowers thinking they are perfectly harmless...I thought they were up to last week. Granted nobody has died or fallen ill but still there is nothing wrong with a little education.

enda1

I knew this and to me it was common knowledge, can't believe you didn't know...

Anyway what's the big deal? Its not like we go around eating the things.

Amalgam

It is well known. Lovely plant, grows on discarded soil, rough ground a lot, bees love it too. I love having it in the garden.

You could have the longest post on boards.ie detailing plants that'll put you in a coffin, if ingested. Many would surprise you.. and are far more common in gardens than Digitalis.

OldGoat

Supprised you didn't know about digitalis. I've always assumed it was common knowledge.

partyguinness

Well it is common knowledge to people on a "Gardening" Forum..what a surprise there...:D

I am surprised I didnt know this either but neither do others I have asked...one of my teachers in primary school was obsessed with nature tress, birds etc and took us on nature walks every month..so I guess I am surprised that he never pointed it out to us. Surprised that the farmers I asked didnt know this either. Thats all.

The Sweeper

I think the wikipedia article is overstating the danger of foxglove somewhat. Yes, it is poisonous. Yes, it will make you very sick if you eat it. But with many poisonous items, one of the first reactions of the body is vomiting, so while you'll be ill, you may not die. It isn't pure chance that you haven't heard of widespread deaths in children from so toxic a plant - it's because the level of contact children have with the plant isn't enough to kill them.

Other plants with high levels of toxicity include oleander, various lilys, the bulbs of most flowering bulbs, holly (berries), mistletoe (berries), daphne (berries - highly poisonous, ingestion of a few can kill a child), oak tree leaves, rhubarb and cowslips... The list goes on.

Your pets tend to be more at risk from poisonous plants in your home and garden than your kids to be honest - unless you have a child who insists on ingesting everything they come into contact with.

I would have thought that the information that foxglove is poisonous was quite widely known, though they do self-seed prolifically in the wild so there is a chance of kids coming on them while out playing.

partyguinness

OldGoat wrote: »

Supprised you didn't know about digitalis. I've always assumed it was common knowledge.

I was aware of digitalis..dont know it came from Foxglove.

Amalgam

Remember this?

In 2008 celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson recommended Henbane as a "tasty addition to salads" in the August 2008 issue of Healthy and Organic Living magazine. He subsequently said that he had made an error, confusing the herb with Fat Hen, a member of the spinach family. He apologised, and the magazine sent subscribers an urgent message stating that Henbane "is a very toxic plant and should never be eaten."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyoscyamus_niger

Irish Gardener

partyguinness wrote: »

Hi All,

are we waiting for a death to suddenly wake up.

That old foxglove has kept many folk alive as well........ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digoxin

bauderline

My mother warned me about two plants as a child... one was the foxglove and the other was this bad boy... which I think was growing in a hedge on my walk to school......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna

Amalgam

I was warned about Giant Hogweed as a kid, which was quite common along the banks of the Shanganagh River, here in County Dublin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Hogweed

PirateShampoo

Amalgam wrote: »

I was warned about Giant Hogweed as a kid, which was quite common along the banks of the Shanganagh River, here in County Dublin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Hogweed

That stuff is lethal. The gf is highly allergic to stuff. Its illegal to encourage its growth in other European country's and its actively searched out and destroyed.

PirateShampoo

bauderline wrote: »

My mother warned me about two plants as a child... one was the foxglove and the other was this bad boy... which I think was growing in a hedge on my walk to school......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna

Deadly nightshade, i was also warned about this by my mum when i was younger to. Used to have a bush of it not to far from the house. Apparently it was use has a poison in middle ages.

CJhaughey

partyguinness wrote: »

Well it is common knowledge to people on a "Gardening" Forum..what a surprise there...:D

I am surprised I didnt know this either but neither do others I have asked...one of my teachers in primary school was obsessed with nature tress, birds etc and took us on nature walks every month..so I guess I am surprised that he never pointed it out to us. Surprised that the farmers I asked didnt know this either. Thats all.

Unfortunately this seems to be very common, while some teachers are keen on nature, their knowledge is quite limited, farmers knowledge is nothing special in my opinion either, many I have spoken to have almost no knowledge of their natural surroundings.
It goes back to DeValera when he devalued science and instead promoted religious teachings.
Back OT the reason there aren't piles of dead kids and animals lying in every country lane with bunches of foxglove hanging out of their lips is because most animals have sense and don't walk around eating wild plants on the roadside.
Oleander which is common as a garden ornamental is one of the most poisonous in the world but there doesn't seem to be any huge cry to ban it because of toxicity.

2 stroke

extracts of this plant didn't frequently cause intoxication because they induced nausea and vomiting within minutes of ingestion, preventing the patient from consuming more.

John mac

anyone watch Casino Royale ?

digitalis is the poision slipped into JB drink.

he has to go out to the car and use a Defibrillator on himself..


I also thought it was common knowledge.

Amalgam

CJhaughey, you'd think farmers would be aware, aren't livestock vulnerable to certain weeds in grazing areas?

I remember hearing on the radio about how you can get funding to remove certain varieties.. and that the farmer is bound to inform as well, at the risk of a fine.

For the life of me I can't remember the main nuisance plant, but it had small yellow flowers.

CJhaughey

Amalgam wrote: »

CJhaughey, you'd think farmers would be aware, aren't livestock vulnerable to certain weeds in grazing areas?

I remember hearing on the radio about how you can get funding to remove certain varieties.. and that the farmer is bound to inform as well, at the risk of a fine.

For the life of me I can't remember the main nuisance plant, but it had small yellow flowers.

Ragwort is the plant you are thinking of, it is actually an offence to have it growing on your land but it is not enforced.
Most farmers just spray to kill it, and rushes etc etc.