Witches and herb-women have always been crazy about me.
They made potions using dried leaves, or put me in a cream to numb pain, cure diseases, or – and I’m not making this up – to get high.
Sometimes their magic potions seemed to suddenly cure something, so physicians looked into my active ingredients. They discovered digoxin and digitoxin – sugar compounds – in my leaves.
Very toxic substances, but in small amounts they can have a beneficial effect on people with irregular heartbeats and even weak hearts.
But take care! If you use a thimbleful too much you could suffer from dizziness, headache, fatigue, confusion, blurred vision, fits, or in the worst cases, a heart attack.
