A tall annual or biennial, up to 1.2 m (4 ft.) in height, it has large, deeply lobed, spiny leaves with white veins and purple thistle flowers in summer.
History and traditions
It is called milk thistle for its milky-white veins, from which it earned its reputation, under the Doctrine of Signatures, as improving the milk supply of nursing mothers. The Latin specific name, Mariana, associates it with the Virgin Mary, from the tradition that her milk once fell upon its leaves, and the genus name is a corruption of silicon, which was Discords’ term for this herb. Milk thistles were formerly frequently cultivated as a vegetable and it was decreed by Thomas Tryon (The Good Housewife, 1692) that “they are very wholesome and exceed all other greenish in taste”.
Habitat/distribution
Native to Europe, introduced elsewhere and naturalized in North America and other countries. Found on dry, stony soils, in fields and roadsides.
Growth
Grows in any well-drained soil in a sunny position. Propagation is by seed, sown in spring or autumn, and it self-seeds prolifically.
Parts used
Leaves and flowering stems dried for use in infusions or for extractions of the active principle silymarin.
Uses
Medicinal
Taken as an infusion to stimulate appetite and for digestive disorders. Contains compounds, known as silymarin, which are said to be effective as an antidote to toxic substances that cause liver damage.
