View image in fullscreenSingular foxglove by Reece Gibbins Foxglove (digitalis purpurea), Colstoun, East Lothian. A native foxglove stands out among the non-native fennel. Feared for its poisonous nature, the humble foxglove is widely used to treat heart failure. It’s thought that the name has nothing to do with foxes but is actually a corruption of ‘folk’s glove’, a reference to the fairy folk.