Each purple flower looks just like a bell,
toxic to animals and humans as well.
I’m sly like a fox, not easy to manage,
awareness is key to prevent any damage.
I Spy in the Sea to Sky…
Watch out! This plant is highly toxic to humans and animals. It has pink-purple, bell-shaped flowers and is originally from Western Europe. Can you guess what it is?
It’s Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)! It flowers from June to August and produces its seeds from July to September. It likes to grow in disturbed areas, so you might see it along roads, in fields, clearings, gravel pits and forest edges. Common Foxglove is found in the Sea to Sky region and its distribution is beyond landscape-level control. We aim to strategically control Common Foxglove when it’s present at high-priority locations, to minimize its impact.
Common Foxglove can be easily identified by several distinctive features:
- Bell-shaped flowers with dark purple spots on the inside. The flowers are typically pink-purple, but they can also be white, pink, rose, or yellow.
- Erect stems that grow between 0.5m and 1.5m tall.
- Hairy, lance-shaped leaves that are 10-35cm long. The leaves form a tight rosette at the bottom of the stem and decrease in size up the stem.
If Common Foxglove is from Europe, how did it get to Canada?
Common Foxglove was brought to North America as a garden ornamental, due to its vibrant and pretty flowers. This plant is still sold in garden shops throughout the Sea to Sky and is a common species in wildflower seed packets. If you see Common Foxglove for sale in a shop near you, please consider bringing up your concerns with the plant retailer!
If you’re wondering why it isn’t illegal to sell invasive (and toxic!) plants, check out the FAQ’s in our Gardeners page.
Another reason Common Foxglove was introduced to North America was for its uses as a medicinal plant. It contains a glycoside digitoxin in its leaves, flowers, and seeds, which is toxic to humans (Do NOT consume foxglove!), but has been used to treat heart related health issues, such as heart failure or irregular heartbeat.
Why is Common Foxglove such a concern in the Sea to Sky?
Common Foxglove is an aggressive spreader with no natural predators in our area. It spreads by seed, and each plant can produce up to 5000 seeds each year. Its seeds can be dispersed by wind, water, contaminated soil, and gardening equipment.
The main concern with Common Foxglove is that it is highly toxic to humans and animals. Due to the glycoside digitoxin in the plant, ingestion of any part of this plant can cause serious illness or death. Contact with the plant may also cause skin irritation.
Common Foxglove also negatively impacts our local ecosystem by outcompeting native plants.
To find out what you can do to help, please visit its species profile page.
I Spy in the Sea to Sky Contest
Guess the invasive species in our I Spy in the Sea to Sky weekly social media post, June through August, to enter our giveaway.
At the end of each month, one lucky commenter will win a native wildflower seed mix packet! Follow us and comment on social media to participate!
CONTEST RULES:
- Comment your guess (common or species name) on the social media post (on Instagram or Facebook) to enter. Only correct guesses will qualify you for the giveaway.
- One entry per person per post.
- Anyone can play, but only Sea to Sky region residents can win.
- Entries will close at 11:59 PM PST on July 31th, 2024.
- Winners will be announced in the first week of August in an Instagram story AND contacted directly via their platform of entry.
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