Oxfordshire Woodland Group

Foxgloves are biennial plants i.e. they germinate to form a leafy plant during the first year of growth and then flower the following year before dying and dispersing seed. The seed can remain viable in the ground for well over 60 years and might not germinate and flower until a canopy tree is blown over in a storm or felled thereby disturbing the leaf litter and mineral soil containing dormant seed. In this case a 60 year old birch tree that fell in a storm.

The foxglove flowers a very attractive to bees with this insect being the main pollinator of this plant. After the flowers have been fertilzed the flower tube falls away and the seed pods swell up and ripen ready to burst and scatter thousands of seeds onto the ground.

The tall (8ft+) stem assists with dispersal of the seed by providing the seed with slingshot assist during windy conditions allowing the seed to be scattered over a wide area to lie dormant once again awaiting favourable conditions to germinate.

Foxgloves were sometimes known as "Dandy Poplars" in country areas (Surrey).

Chilterns