Digitalis 'non-stewartii'

[meanie]

This is slightly off topic, but I was told by a botanist that digitalis comes true from seed and that they don't mix with other species.

I'm no expert but Digitalis x mertonensis and the Illumination series spring to mind.

[Tristan_He]

I found no description and even no author attached to the name. It is not listed in the Plant list nor in scientific papers about phylogeny of foxgloves and turkish foxgloves. So, I 'm now quite sure that there is no Digitalis stewartii (and it's even not a synonym since there is no description) and that the true name of this foxglove should be Digitalis ferruginea. Indeed, I looked again at Eker's paper and there is a map of turkish foxgloves : at Dilek Peninsula, there is only D. ferruginea ssp. ferruginea and D. cariensis.... D. f. schishkinii is distributed in north-east Anatolia. So, yours D. stewartii should be D. ferruginea ferruginea. Other might be D. f. schischkinii or even hybrid with D. laevigata ?

Yes - nothing on Google Scholar or IPMN either. Bit baffling where the name came from, it just doesn't seem to exist!

The pictures look like a yellow form of ferruginea to me. Interesting that there is such a perennial form though, that sounds like something worth propagating. Conceivably D. ferruginea is rather variable? Some more perennial better coloured forms of this species would be great as it can be a bit muddy. The only properly perennial foxglove I grow is parviflora.

[Gabriela]

It would be great to change the title of this thread to Digitalis 'non-stewartii'. I am afraid that for many it is not clear that such 'species' doesn't exist.
In many botanical gardens there are mislabeled plants nowadays, unfortunately.
And, variability in flower colour, height, and other such characters are not the ones upon which a species is described and defined.

Yvain mentioned the Phytotaxa article a long ago, but apparently no one payed attention, so here is the link.
http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.244.3.3

[Karaba]

Yvain mentioned the Phytotaxa article a long ago, but apparently no one payed attention, so here is the link.
http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.244.3.3

I have the PDF of this article from İsmail Eker and Researchgate (ask me by PM if interested). The phylogenies and the plates of the digitalis showing the variability of Digitalis ferruginea can be looked  here : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291140350_Phylogeny_of_Anatolian_Turkey_species_in_the_Digitalis_sect_Globiflorae_Plantaginaceae

[Gabriela]

I have the PDF of this article from İsmail Eker and Researchgate (ask me by PM if interested). The phylogenies and the plates of the digitalis showing the variability of Digitalis ferruginea can be looked  here : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291140350_Phylogeny_of_Anatolian_Turkey_species_in_the_Digitalis_sect_Globiflorae_Plantaginaceae

Yes, very good plates as well. I took note of the purplish form of D. ferruginea ssp. ferruginea - if someone collects seeds by mistake, may end up as a new species as well  (hope not)

[Maggi Young]

I agree with Gabriela it is good to change the name of this thread.

[ChrisB]

This digitalis is from seed ex seed labelled D. dubia. I don't think that is correct after looking up pics on google, so what do you reckon it is please?

[Karaba]

This digitalis is from seed ex seed labelled D. dubia. I don't think that is correct after looking up pics on google, so what do you reckon it is please?

It looks like D. grandiflora

[ChrisB]

That was what I was thinking too, thanks Karaba