Plukenet's False Foxglove - Agalinis plukenetii

There are 17 native species of false foxgloves (Agalinis spp.) in Florida and they are often difficult to identify. Much of it depends on growth habit and on the foliage.  Plukenet's false foxglove (A. plukenetii) is characterized by its mounding habit and its very thin recurving leaves.  This species was not recognized as such in my earlier versions of the Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin and Hansen), but is included by the 3rd Edition.  Like most false foxgloves, Plukenet's is an annual that appears in spring and grows rapidly to the bush form it exhibits by late summer.  The flowers are typical for the genus - five pink petals with a frill along the outer edge and pink spots in the throat.  This species flowers profusely by late summer and fall and attracts the attention of pollinators - especially bees..

Plukenet's false foxglove occurs throughout much of north and central Florida in dry to xeric, sandy, gravelly or clay roadsides, pine-oak forests, margins of savannas, and disturbed ground.  Like other members of this genus, it serves as a host plant for the common buckeye butterfly but has never been offered commercially by any of the native plant nurseries in Florida associated with FANN - the Florida Association of Native Nurseries.  As a root parasite that needs to attach its root system early to a host plant and because it's also an annual, it is not a good candidate for a typical home landscape.  It is easily germinated, however, from ripe seed collected once the seed capsules mature.

These photos were taken by my friend, Steve Coleman, and used by permission.