Digitalis purpurea, commonly known as Foxglove, is a popular biennial garden plant appreciated for its tall, colorful flower spikes. Identifying this species early, before it produces flowers, can be challenging. The plant spends its entire first year as a small, non-flowering collection of leaves, making knowledge of this initial growth stage important for cultivation and weeding.
The Initial Appearance Cotyledons
The very first structures to emerge from the soil are the cotyledons, or seed leaves, which represent the embryonic food source. These initial leaves on the Foxglove seedling are quite small and relatively non-descript. They typically appear as a pair of simple, light green structures.
Cotyledons are usually oval or slightly kidney-shaped, lacking the texture of later true leaves. This transient stage lasts only a short period as the seedling relies on energy reserves before beginning photosynthesis. Because of their generic appearance, cotyledons are rarely used for positive identification.
Characteristics of True Leaves
Identification becomes easier once the true leaves appear above the cotyledons. These early true leaves form a dense, low-growing basal rosette, which is the plant’s form throughout its first year. The leaves are oblong to lanceolate in shape, meaning they are longer than they are wide and taper toward a point.
A defining feature is the slightly toothed or scalloped edge, known as a crenate margin, which distinguishes them from many common weeds. The leaf surface appears downy or fuzzy due to a covering of fine, gray-white hairs, especially on the underside. This gives the leaves a soft, velvety feel.
The leaves display a prominent vein pattern, with the midrib and lateral veins appearing deeply impressed, giving the leaf a wrinkled or coarse, quilted look. These basal leaves grow on short leaf stalks (petioles) and can reach up to a foot in length as the plant focuses on energy storage for its second year.
Distinguishing Foxglove Seedlings from Look-Alikes
The primary challenge in identifying Foxglove seedlings is distinguishing them from other common garden plants that also form a basal rosette with hairy leaves. The plant most often confused with Digitalis purpurea is Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Mullein leaves are also covered in hairs, but they are much softer and woolier, and the overall leaf color tends to be gray-green rather than the medium-green of Foxglove.
Another look-alike is Comfrey (Symphytum officinale), which can be differentiated by its leaf edges. Foxglove leaves have a noticeably serrated or jagged margin, while Comfrey leaves, despite appearing coarse, have smooth, untoothed edges. The combination of the velvety, downy texture and the distinctly toothed margin is unique to the Foxglove seedling.
All parts of the Digitalis purpurea plant contain cardiac glycosides, which are highly toxic if ingested. When handling any unknown seedling that resembles Foxglove, wear gloves to prevent potential skin irritation.