Digitalis thapsi

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Digitalis thapsi
Digitalis thapsi in situ at Villavieja de Yeltes, Salamanca, Spain
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Digitalis
Species:
D. thapsi
Binomial name
Digitalis thapsi
Synonyms

Homotypic:

  • Digitalis purpurea proles thapsi ((L.) Font Quer in Bol. Farm. Militar 3: 128. 1925.)
  • Digitalis purpurea subsp. thapsi ((L.) Font Quer, Pl. Medic. 619. 1962, comb. inval.)
  • Digitalis purpurea subsp. thapsi ((L.) Rivas Goday in Farmacogn. 5: 144. 1946.)

Heterotypic:

  • Digitalis thapsi f. albiflora (C.Vicioso, in sched.,
    nom. nud.
    )
  • Digitalis thapsi f. albiflora (C.Vicioso ex R.Fern. in Mem. Soc. Brot. 6: 50. 1950.)

Digitalis thapsi, which has been called mullein foxglove in the US, is a

endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, where it occurs in eastern Portugal and central and western Spain. It is of commercial importance as an ornamental plant. Hybrids with D. purpurea
have proved successful and are fertile.

Names

A

vernacular names recorded for this species are abeloura, abeloura-amarelada, aboleira, aveloeira, dedaleira, luvas de Santa María, pegajo and rabo de raposa in Portuguese, whereas in Spanish the most common name is dedalera, followed by viloria, viluria, giloria, dedales and mataperla, but it has also been called abiloria, abiluria, abortones, bacera, beleño, biloria, biluria, campanilla, cascante, cascaor, chupadera, chupamieles, chupera, cohete, cohetera, cohetes, deales, dedales de niño, dedales purpúreos, dediles, digital, digitalis, emborrachacabras, estallones, goldaperra, guadalperra, gualdaperra, guardaperros, hueltaperra, mata de lagartija, mataperros, rabera, ravera, raéra, restalladera, restralleti, restrallos, sabia, tuercecuellos and vueltaperra.[3][4]

Taxonomy

It was first described in the modern taxonomic system by Carl Linnaeus in 1763.[1]

The genus

family Scrophulariaceae,[5] but it is now considered to belong within the Plantaginaceae.[6]

Hybrids

Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter, a German botanist, observed that D. thapsi had many characteristics of D. purpurea after four to five generations of cultivation, and that the former became indistinguishable from the latter, a report that was considered "probably" trustworthy by Charles Darwin. D. thapsi and D. purpurea hybrids are generally fertile.[7]

In many areas of Spain and Portugal populations of D. thapsi and D. purpurea meet, and

nothosubsp. carpetana and D. minor in error in two older Portuguese works (1906, 1913), but this hybrid is now generally known as D. × coutinhoi.[8]

Description

Growing in its native Spain

Habitus

Digitalis thapsi is a

caespitose, meaning it grows with its large leaves tightly arranged into one, or a number, of rosettes growing at or just above ground level. In older plants the base becomes woody and highly branched at ground level, so that a single plant has multiple rosettes. The green, round to slightly angular stems grow to (30-)50 to 80(-100)cm in height before they start to flower. The stems are similarly entirely covered in glandular hairs; these are present in two forms: short and subsessile, or much longer, 0.4 to 0.6mm.[8]

The chromosome count is 2n=56.[8]

Leaves

The lower basal leaf blades are 7.5 to 13 cm (exceptionally 19 cm) in length, 2.5 to 5 cm in width, more or less flat but sometimes undulated along the margins, and oblong to elliptic in shape, with a sharp to somewhat sharply tipped apex. The bases of the leaves taper gradually into the

subentire.[8]

Flowers

The pink, rarely white,

lanceolate in shape.[8]

Chemistry

According to Dutch botanist

Manganese sulfate and lithium chloride also increased the digoxin concentration, but did not affect growth.[16] Calcium oxalate crystals have also been isolated from D. thapsi.[10][17][18]

Similar species

In 1841

sympatric with D. thapsi.[8]

Distribution

Digitalis thapsi is an

endemic species of the Iberian Peninsula,[4][6] occurring in both Portugal and Spain. It grows in the mountains and rocky plains of the central and central-western parts of the Iberian Peninsula, especially in the Sistema Central and its extensions between the rivers of the Douro and Tagus.[8]

It is widespread in Spain,

Andalucía it is only found in the north of the region, in the western Sierra Morena, where it is uncommon;[22] it has been collected more often in the mountains of central Spain.[3][8]

In Portugal it primarily occurs in the northern and central interior,[6][21] more precisely in the districts of Bragança, Vila Real, Guarda, Viseu, Castelo Branco, Portalegre and Évora. With less frequency, it has also been found in the Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Beja and Faro Districts.[8][23]

Ecology

Digitalis thapsi grows in acidic soils.[22] It grows on rocky ground[8][22] and on slopes. It prefers sunny, open and disturbed places. It generally grows on soils derived from granite, but also sometimes on quartzite and schist. It grows at (rarely 100-) 500–1500 metres in altitude.[8]

The specific phytosociological suballiance and alliance wherein it occurs is called 'Rumici indurati-Dianthion lusitani', which is in the order 'Phagnalo saxatilis-Rumicetalia indurati', in the class 'Phagnalo saxatilis-Rumicetea indurati'. It is a characteristic species of this phytocoenosis. In this habitat it occurs together with these following characteristic species: Antirrhinum graniticum subsp. graniticum, Antirrhinum rupestris, Arrhenatherum fernandesii, Biscutella bilbilitana, Centaurea monticola subsp. citricolor, Centaurea pinnata, Coincya leptocarpa, Coincya longirostra, Coincya pseudoerucastrum subsp. pseudoerucastrum, Coincya rupestris, Conopodium bunioides subsp. aranii, Conopodium majus subsp. marizianum, Crepis oporinoides, Dianthus crassipes subsp. crassipes, Dianthus crassipes subsp. sereneanus, Dianthus lusitanus, Digitalis mariana (both subspecies), Digitalis purpurea subsp. toletana, Erodium mouretti, Erysimum linifolium subsp. lagascae, Festuca duriotagana, Jasione sessiliflora subsp. tomentosa, Scrophularia oxyrhincha, Scrophularia sublyrata, Sedum hirsutum subsp. baeticum, Silene marizii, Silene × montistellensis and Verbascum rotundifolium subsp. castellanum.[24]

In its native lands it flowers from June to July.[8] In cultivation it flowers in late spring[2][11] to early summer.[2] A study of the fruiting activity in D. thapsi showed that production, size and number of seeds were interrelated. Analysis has shown that seed weight is not related to the length of the cotyledon, and that the length of the fifth leaf can serve as a useful factor in determining the genetic variability among specimens.[5]

Uses

Agriculture

It is known that livestock avoid eating this plant, but an exception are goats, which will eat the leaves and flowers in times of shortage. Nonetheless, the plant is poisonous for them, causing stupor and paralysis -this was apparently once not an uncommon occurrence in Spain, and has spawned a number of idioms.[25]

Cultivation

The species is used as a perennial, ornamental plant.[9] It is low-growing, so is used in the border. It grows well in half-shaded to sun-exposed areas in temperate regions.[2][11] It prefers organically rich, reasonably well-drained, acidic soils. In Missouri it is said to require constantly moist soil.[2] In British gardens moderate watering is required; the plant has an average drought tolerance,[11] and is adaptable to dry shady areas.[26] It is tolerant of deer. Many gardeners remove the spent flower spikes soon after bloom, not allowing it to go to seed.[2]

Besides normal cultivation, D. thapsi has been propagated using

NAA, 2,4-D and IAA alone or combined with BA produced a callus. NAA caused root formation and BA shoot formation. NAA and BA combined induced organ generation more effectively. Plantlets obtained this way had a survival rate of 70%.[27]

A cultivar called 'Spanish Peaks' with raspberry-rose-coloured flowers and a compact habitus has been available in the US.[2]

Traditional

In Spain the traditional uses have practically been abandoned. Recorded traditional uses are often identical to that those of D. purpurea; when questioned many informants in Salamanca believed that these were in fact the same species. It is generally thought that the difference in flower colour is due to some characteristic of the soil. Local people are aware it is poisonous. It was once locally used in

herbalism as a cardiac tonic in many places. Other folk medicinal uses are local to specific cities or villages: in the hills near Salamanca the leaves were steeped in water to use for a sore throat or a decoction used for infected wounds, in a town in Galicia the flowers in water were used to combat inflammations, in the provinces of Zamora and Salamanca boils are said to heal after applying a poultice of the burnt basal leaves.[25]

Conservation

It is not considered rare in a national or international perspective,

endangered' in the Regional Red List of Andalucía of 2005.[3][22] The reason for this was that the different collection localities and populations in this region were fragmented and very small.[22]

References

Wikispecies has information related to Digitalis thapsi.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Digitalis thapsi.
  1. ^ a b "Digitalis thapsi". International Plant Names Index. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Digitalis thapsi 'Spanish Peaks'". Plant-finder. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  3. ^
    Real Jardín Botánico
    . 2 March 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Marhold, Karol (2011). Greuter, Werner; von Raab-Straube, E. (eds.). "Details for: Digitalis thapsi". Euro+Med Plantbase. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  5. ^
    S2CID 84615329
    .
  6. ^ a b c d "Digitalis thapsi L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  7. ISBN 978-0-521-34807-2
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 9788400087470
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-3-642-21201-7
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-81-224-1501-8
    .
  11. ^ a b c d e "Digitalis thapsi". Plant Database. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  12. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (6th ed.). Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company. 1823.
  13. ^ Edinger, Philip; Sanchez, Janet H. (2002). Annuals and Perennials. Sunset Books. p. 118.
  14. S2CID 8040006
    .
  15. doi:10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00317.x
    .
  16. S2CID 21383174
    .
  17. ISBN 978-81-963961-5-2
    . Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  18. ISBN 978-81-85790-30-5
    .
  19. ^ Boissier, Pierre Edmond (1841). Voyage botanique dans le midi de l'Espagne (in French and Latin). Vol. II. Paris: Gide et Cie. p. 466.
  20. ^ "Digitalis thapsi". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  21. ^
    ISSN 2405-8858
    . Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  22. ^
    ISBN 84-96329-62-3
    .
  23. ^ "Digitalis thapsi L." Flora-On. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  24. ISSN 1887-5068
    . Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  25. ^ a b González, José Antonio; Vallejo, José Ramón; Amich, Francisco (May 2018). "Digitalis thapsi L.". In Pardo de Santayana, Manuel; Morales, Ramón; Tardío, Javier; Molina, Maria (eds.). Inventario Español de los Conocimientos Tradicionales Relativos a la Biodiversidad (in Spanish). Vol. II (1 ed.). Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (MAPAMA). pp. 312–313.
  26. ISBN 978-0-521-76164-2
    .
  27. S2CID 41305774
    .
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