About Digitalis ciliata Trautv.
Digitalis ciliata Trautv. is an herbaceous species, with individual plants growing between 30 cm and 60 cm in height. It has an alternate leaf arrangement, with small, green, lanceolate leaves. This species is known both for its medicinal uses and for its high toxicity if ingested. Its flowers grow at the terminal ends of stems, arranged in a raceme inflorescence. Digitalis ciliata is native to the Caucasus region. It is an indigenous mountain species that can be found growing in meadows, pastures, forest margins, and on slopes. Medicinally, Digitalis ciliata is used to isolate cardenolide glycosides, and contains most of the glycosides that the Digitalis genus is known for, including digitoxigenin, gitoxigenin, digoxigenin, gitaloxigenin, and diginatigenin. The seeds of D. ciliata are rich in the steroid glycoside digitonin, along with other lipids that are important for cardiac treatments. Beyond its use in cardiac medicine, researchers are investigating the anti-proliferative properties of D. ciliata for potential use in suppressing tumors. There is some evidence that saponins from this species have an anti-tumor effect, supporting cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, or programmed cell death.
