Although this plant is very beautiful and may seem harmless, it's actually very poisonous (as you can see, learning about poisonous plants greatly interests me). It contains cardiac glycosides that will cause your heart to arrest in a very short amount of time. Just a nibble of the plant contains enough toxin to kill you. The two compounds responsible for this reaction are digitalis and digitoxin. When utilized in small dosages, digitalis can help with certain heart conditions such as congestive heart failure and arrhythmias. Many of the early herbalists used it to treat epilepsy and other seizure disorders, but it quickly faded out because of the variation of active compounds in each individual plant. There was no way to tell what dosage would be correct because each plant (as well as each part of the plant) had a different concentration.
Don't worry, I won't wait so long to post again. I'll alternate back and forth from poisonous to medicinal-everyone needs to know and understand the flora that grows around them. People become sick and die every day because of their lack of knowledge regarding the secondary metabolites in plants (including mushrooms). Please be conscious of what you pick from the yard. Just because it makes a pretty salad garnish doesn't mean it belongs on your plate. I've read a story of an elderly couple celebrating their 50th anniversary and the wife wanted to make a special dinner to celebrate. She decided to collect some mushrooms growing around her house that she was sure she knew were edible. Unfortunately, both her and her husband ended up dying. Remember to always consult some sort of field guide and even then be careful!!! (especially with mushrooms)
Well that's all that I have for you today. Look for more in the near future!
