The Herbarium
Part XII · Lookalikes
Field pair
Foxglove for hollyhock
Foxglove and Hollyhock — take this sheet to the bed, not a guess to the kettle.
Deadly mix-upGarden
Foxglove for hollyhock
Two cottage spires. One is a cardiac drug. The other is a mallow you may not want to eat either, but it will not stop a heart in a cup.
Hollyhock is a mallow: round, palmate leaves and a column of stamens in an open, wide flower. Foxglove is a plantain-family spike of spotted thimbles with a basal rosette of lance leaves. A young rosette is the dangerous year.
The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.