Poisonous plants Foxglove

Poisonous plants, by and large, are the most medically active in controlled doses, that is, in small or minute amounts. Digitalis, used for heart trouble, is obtained from the foxglove. Also there is atropine, derived from belladonna, or deadly nightshade, and used for such purposes as pupil dilation in ophthalmology. This is not necessarily a blanket endorsement, however, for there are poisonous plants that remain poisonous whatever the use. 

Cardiac steroids occur ia small amounts ia various plants with a wide geographical distribution. The purple foxglove Di talispurpurus has been used for centuries as both a dmg and a poison. Isolation and characterization of the various cardiac steroids have been reviewed (122,123). 

Just as concoctions of cinchona, bark of willow, and leaves of the common foxglove plant were used during ancient times without knowing that they contained, respectively, quinine, aspirin, or digoxin, so is the story of CO. The toxicity of CO was recorded by Aristotle (384-322 BC) in the third century BC by the first century BC, charcoal fumes were used for suicide and executions without any knowledge of the exact nature of the killer (Lewin, 1920 Shephard, 1983). Byzantine emperor Julian the Apostate and his successor, Jovian, were poisoned in AD... 

FOXGLOVE Digitalis purpurea, L., Family Scrophulariaceae, is a decorative garden plant. The leaves are poisonous due to its content of cardiac glycosides 2-3 g dried or... 

S. have been found in over 100 plant families they occur, e.g. in soapwort, rape, soybean, foxglove, sycamore. Important representatives are Digitonin (see) and Dioscin (see). S. are used as detergents and foaming agents, and have been used since antiquity as fish poisons. 

Weeds sueh as ragwort, horsetails, nightshade, foxgloves and hemlock are poisonous and if eaten by stock are likely to cause poor growth or even death. Fortunately, most stoek animals normally do not eat poisonous weeds in the field although they will if such plants are eonserved in hay or silage. 

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