
… are named for what it sounds like – some poetic Anglo-Saxon imagined them as bed slippers for the small black paws of foxes; ‘foxes glofa.’
Or at least – that’s what some folks say. Etymologists argue over whether the ‘fox’ part was originally ”folk’s’, a shortening of ‘good folks,’ the old Anglo-Saxon name for fairies. The French call them gantelee, or ‘little glove;’ the Germans, fingerhut or ‘thimble.’ The Latin name for the flower, digitalis, just means ‘finger.’ It’s all kind of interesting, but I just enjoy the flowers as they sway in the breeze on a May farm morning with the birds singing and the bees buzzing. As they will be, less than 6 weeks from now.
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I love this post! I learned something I never would have guessed the origin of the name was truly gloves for 🦊
I like that one too! Let’s put the other explanations into “optional” 🙂
I just love your writing and the video. Thank you for this perfect precious bit of Spring!