General account of local plants of medicinal importance: Digitalis, Terminalia, Commiphora, Ocimum, Convolvulus (Sankh Pushpi)
1. Foxglove:- Botanical Name:- Digitalis purpurea Family:- Plantaginaceae Economic Importance:- > Nicholas Culpeper included Foxglove in his 1652 herbal medicine guide, The English Physician. He cited its use for healing wounds (both fresh and old), as a purgative, for "the King's Evil" ( mycobacterial cervical lymphadenitis), for "the falling sickness" (epilepsy), and for "a scabby head". > Digitalis has long been used as a treatment for heart failure in addition to a range of other traditional uses. Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside used for the treatment of heart failure and certain kinds of heart arrhythmia. It is a phytosteroid and is similar in structure and effects to digoxin, though the effects are longer-lasting. > Digoxigenin (DIG) is a steroid found in the flowers and leaves of Digitalis species, and is extracted from D. lanata. Digoxigenin can be used as a molecular probe to detect mRNA in situ and label DNA, RNA, and oligonucleo...