Milk Thistle

Description:

Sillybum is mentioned as a thistle-like medicinal plant as early as Pliny and in Dioscorides' Materia Medica. The name derives from the Greek sillybon or silybos, meaning ‘tassel’ or ‘tuft’. The species name marianum comes from the Latin and refers to a legend that the white spots on the leaves of this species of thistle came from the milk of the Virgin Mary nursing her child whilst fleeing to Egypt. Milk Thistle is a very old medicinal plant. In important medieval medical books such as Matthiolus' Book of Herbs of 1626, it is recommended ‘for side stitches which accompany jaundice’. In his Book of Herbs of 1679, Lonicerus writes that ‘it is good for an inflamed liver‘. The Milk Thistle is an annual or biennial plant growing up to 1.5 metres in height. Its conspicuous, glossy green, white-veined, sinuate-lobed leaves are thornily toothed at the edges. Tufts of red-violet tubular flowers sit on the apically branching stalks in strongly bent-back, thorny husk leaves. The hard-shelled, light to dark brown, egg-shaped fruits (= achenes) bear silken, white, tufts of hair (= pappus, from the Greek pappos = grey-haired man) that fall off easily. Milk Thistle flowers from June to September. Milk Thistle was formerly classified in the family of the Dipsacacaea, genus Carduus. The more recent botanic system puts it in the Compositae family. The pharmaceutical nomenclature is often still based on the old name Carduus, which can lead to confusion.

Habitat:

Milk Thistle originated in the Mediterranean region and is found from the Iberian Peninsula to Southern Russia, as well as in North Africa and Asia Minor. It has been introduced into North and South America and Southern Australia. It can sometimes be found growing wild in Central Europe. Milk Thistle prefers sunny, dry stone cliffs, the edges of paths, waste dumps, and pasture land.

Notes:

Milk thistle is LIKELY SAFE for most adults not taking prescription drugs or pregnant. Milk thistle sometimes causes a laxative effect. Other less common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, indigestion, intestinal gas, bloating, fullness or pain, and loss of appetite. Talk to your doctor before introducing milk thistle into your diet so you can discover if this herb is right for you. Milk thistle is used most often for liver disorders, including liver damage caused by chemicals, Amanita phalloides mushroom poisoning, jaundice, chronic inflammatory liver disease, cirrhosis of the liver, and chronic hepatitis. Nevertheless, researchers have not yet concluded with certainty that milk thistle is effective for any of these uses. Milk thistle is also used for loss of appetite, heartburn (dyspepsia), and gallbladder complaints. Some people use milk thistle for diabetes, hangover, diseases of the spleen, prostate cancer, malaria, depression, uterine complaints, increasing breast milk flow, and starting menstrual flow. In foods, milk thistle leaves and flowers are eaten as a vegetable for salads and a substitute for spinach. The seeds are roasted for use as a coffee substitute.