Milk Thistle
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Milk Thistle

Silybum marianum

Plant Family

Asteraceae – Daisy/Sunflower family

Other Names

Mary’s thistle1

Parts Used

seed

Uses

Promotes healthy liver function*

Prominent Phytochemicals

Prominent Constituents as Reported in Scientific Literature: Flavanolignans, flavanonols, flavonols, flavones, lignans, biogenic amines, lipids and proteins.7

Did You Know?

Milk Thistle is in the same family as Artichoke, and the bud and flower look very similar but are smaller in size.

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Description

Milk Thistle is a dioecious, herbaceous plant that can be an annual or biennial depending on when the seed is sown.2,3 The fast-growing plant can reach up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) by 3 feet, 3 inches (1 meter).3 The spiny deep green leaves have a distinctive venous or mottled pattern in white that grow alternately in obovate shape with deep lobes.3,4,9 The first year produces leaves in a basal rosette.4 Its elongated root is dense and also mottled with white.9 The second year produces a sturdy 3 to 5 foot flower stalk, each with a solitary capitulum with showy purple-pink tubular thistle-like blooms.4 Spiny involucre bracts cover the underside of the flower with prickles at the base.4,8 Its fruit is a specialized seed called an achene, and has winged pappus hairs on top.8,9 The smooth, obovate seed is pale brown with blackish striations and a yellowish swollen ring at the tip.5,8

Origins & History

References

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