A killer in our midst

I walked down to the local park this evening to try to blip a particularly fine stand of thistles that I noticed last week but, damn me, had someone not cut them all down. Anyway, trudging back to the house, I spotted these foxgloves in a neighbour's garden.

Now, I don't know about you but I've always found something about these plants really spooky and on researching them further, with very good reason. It seems that the various species of Digitalis, to give them their Sunday name, are absolutely lethal. According to Wikipedia, the leaves of the upper stem are particularly potent, with just a nibble being enough to potentially cause death. And if that's not bad enough, it doesn't just kill you stone dead - you also get to suffer nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, abdominal pain, wild hallucinations, delirium, and severe headache en route to your demise. Not for nothing are foxgloves also known as Dead Man's Bells, and Witches' Gloves (some old wives obviously knew their stuff...).

However, as is the way of such things, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and Digitalis is also the basis for a series of extremely potent and effective drugs for treating heart conditions.

You have been warned...