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Milk Thistle
Milk Thistle
Silybum marianum
Plantae
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
Annual or biennial
Size
Large
Diet
Photosynthetic
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
Mediterranean
Movement
Sessile
Breeding
Seeds
Defense
Spines
Status
Common

About

Milk thistle is a tall, spiny-leaved plant with striking purple flower heads and distinctive white-veined leaves, as if splashed with milk. Its seeds contain silymarin, a compound used for over 2,000 years as a liver tonic.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    seed
    A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
  2. 2.
    sprout
    A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
  3. 3.
    sapling
    A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
  4. 4.
    mature
    Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida
Order
Asterales
Family
Asteraceae
Genus
Silybum
Species
Silybum marianum