How did I get my name? My Dutch name ‘Vingerhoedskruid’ (thimbleweed), like my Latin name, describes my shape.
The little white or purple cups that hang in long rows on my stem are just like little thimbles.
Look – you could fit them over your fingertips perfectly.
In England they call me ‘foxglove’. People tell all sorts of stories about the origins of that name.
Some think that it comes from ‘folk’s glove’ – a glove for fairy folk.
Others claim that the name comes from a legend in which fairies gave my flowers to foxes, to wear over their paws like socks, so that the chickens in the henhouse wouldn’t hear them coming.
According to yet another story, fairies taught the foxes how to softly ring my flowers, like bells, to warn other foxes of the approach of foxhunters.
Well, as I always say: if the glove fits, wear it…
