Herbal Database Search Results

Silybum marianum

Physical Characteristics

Biennial growing to 1.2m by 1m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 7 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 5/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Edible Uses

Root - raw or cooked[1, 2, 4, 52, 183]. A mild flavour and somewhat mucilaginous texture[K]. When boiled, the roots resemble salsify (Tragopogon hispanicus)[1, 4, 115].
Leaves - raw or cooked[1, 4, 5, 52, 89, 115]. The very sharp leaf-spines must be removed first[46, 183], which is quite a fiddly operation[K]. The leaves are quite thick and have a mild flavour when young, at this time they are quite an acceptable ingredient of mixed salads, though they can become bitter in hot dry weather[K]. When cooked they make an acceptable spinach substitute[238]. It is possible to have leaves available all year round from successional sowings[K].
Flower buds - cooked[1, 238]. A globe artichoke substitute[12, 183], they are used before the flowers open. The flavour is mild and acceptable, but the buds are quite small and even more fiddly to use than globe artichokes[K].
Stems - raw or cooked[4, 100]. They are best peeled and can be soaked to reduce the bitterness[5, 183]. Palatable and nutritious[4, 115], they can be used like asparagus or rhubarb[12] or added to salads. They are best used in spring when they are young[105].
A good quality oil is obtained from the seeds[4].
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute[21, 46, 61, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Astringent; Bitter; Cholagogue; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Emetic; Emmenagogue; Hepatic; Homeopathy; Stimulant; Stomachic; Tonic.

Blessed thistle has a long history of use in the West as a remedy for depression and liver problems[254]. Recent research has confirmed that it has a remarkable ability to protect the liver from damage resulting from alcoholic and other types of poisoning[254].
The whole plant is astringent, bitter, cholagogue, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, emmenagogue, hepatic, stimulant, stomachic and tonic[4, 21, 160, 165, 238]. It is used internally in the treatment of liver and gall bladder diseases, jaundice, cirrhosis, hepatitis and poisoning[238]. The plant is harvested when in flower and dried for later use[238].
Silymarin, an extract from the seed, acts on the membranes of the liver cells preventing the entry of virus toxins and other toxic compounds and thus preventing damage to the cells[244]. It also dramatically improves liver regeneration in hepatitis, cirrhosis, mushroom poisoning and other diseases of the liver[222, 238, 254]. German research suggests that silybin (a flavonoid component of the seed) is clinically useful in the treatment of severe poisoning by Amanita mushrooms[222]. Seed extracts are produced commercially in Europe[222]. Regeneration of the liver is particularly important in the treatment of cancer since this disease is always characterized by a severely compromised and often partially destroyed liver[K].
A homeopathic remedy is obtained from equal parts of the root and the seed with its hulls still attached[4]. It is used in the treatment of liver and abdominal disorders[9].

We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.

Other Uses

A good green manure plant, producing a lot of bulk for incorporation into the soil[K].

Cultivation details

Propagation

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

• Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
• [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
• [E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
• [B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
• [S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
• [G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
• [C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
• Images from the CalPhoto database.
• [PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
• [P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
• [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

• [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

• [HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
• [HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
• [HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
• [HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[89] Polunin. O. and Huxley. A. Flowers of the Mediterranean. Hogarth Press 1987 ISBN 0-7012-0784-1
A very readable pocket flora that is well illustrated. Gives some information on plant uses.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[160] Natural Food Institute, Wonder Crops. 1987.
Fascinating reading, this is an annual publication. Some reports do seem somewhat exaggerated though.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

Readers Comments

Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Martha Díaz B (martha@ecologia.edu.mx) Thu Jun 28 17:02:26 2001

We reciently recieved this article on the use of various weeds in south america. We though that you might enjoy it.

Abstract

Weeds may constitute an additional food source for humans. Up to 66% of weed species are edible and abound in urban and agricultural environments. A total of 43 species were sampled in tropical areas in Coatepec Mexico (e.g. roadsides, urban vacant lots, streets, sugar cane and coffee plantations). A similar survey performed in a temperate area in Bariloche Argentina with 32 species sampled. At a greater geographic scale, a comparison between Mexican and Argentine weeds shows that, proportionately, the food parts vary a little between regions. In general, the uses go from leaves, seeds, roots, fruits, and flowers.

Link: Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Cross references: Plants: Acalypha wilkesiana, Amaranthus dubius, Amaranthus hybridus, Amaranthus spinosus, Anagallis arvensis, Alstroemeria aurea, Berberis buxifolia, Brassica rapa, Bidens odorata, Cichorius intybus, Cirsium vulgare, Claytonia perfoliata, Cytisus scoparius, Chenopodium album, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, Canna indica, Chenopodium ambrosioides, Commelina diffusa, Commelina erecta, Drymaria cordata, Drymaria gracilis, Galinsoga quadriradiata, Heliconia caribaea, Hydrocotyle bonariensis, Hydrocotyle mexicana, Ipomoea purpurea, Ipomoea tilliacea, Ipomoea triloba, Hypochoeris radicata, Lactuca serriola, Malus sylvestris, Medicago lupulina, Melilotus albus, Margaranthus sulphureus, Oenothera odorata, Osmorhiza chilensis, Oxalis corniculata, Oxalis latifolia, Phaseolus vulgaris, Piper auritum, Plantago hirtella, Plantago lanceolata, Portulaca oleracea, Papaver rhoeas, Rumex acetosella, Rumex longifolius, Rumex obtusifolius, Sida acuta, Sida glabra, Sida rhombifolia, Sida spinosa, Solanum nigrum, Sonchus oleraceus, Spilanthes americana, Sanguisorba minor, Sonchus asper, Sonchus oleraceus, Stellaria media, Taraxacum officinale, Tragopogon dubius, Tradescantia fluminensis, Tagetes micrantha, Trifolium repens, Tripogandra serrulata, Xanthosoma robustum, Youngia japonica. Genera: Mentha.

Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Klaus (allmendeperma@web.de) Thu Aug 16 16:12:55 2001

I really wonder what this has to do with montia perfoliata. The edible uses of weeds might be interesting, but not as a comment to this plant.

Cross references: Plants: Acalypha wilkesiana, Amaranthus dubius, Amaranthus hybridus, Amaranthus spinosus, Anagallis arvensis, Alstroemeria aurea, Berberis buxifolia, Brassica rapa, Bidens odorata, Cichorius intybus, Cirsium vulgare, Claytonia perfoliata, Cytisus scoparius, Chenopodium album, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, Canna indica, Chenopodium ambrosioides, Commelina diffusa, Commelina erecta, Drymaria cordata, Drymaria gracilis, Galinsoga quadriradiata, Heliconia caribaea, Hydrocotyle bonariensis, Hydrocotyle mexicana, Ipomoea purpurea, Ipomoea tilliacea, Ipomoea triloba, Hypochoeris radicata, Lactuca serriola, Malus sylvestris, Medicago lupulina, Melilotus albus, Margaranthus sulphureus, Oenothera odorata, Osmorhiza chilensis, Oxalis corniculata, Oxalis latifolia, Phaseolus vulgaris, Piper auritum, Plantago hirtella, Plantago lanceolata, Portulaca oleracea, Papaver rhoeas, Rumex acetosella, Rumex longifolius, Rumex obtusifolius, Sida acuta, Sida glabra, Sida rhombifolia, Sida spinosa, Solanum nigrum, Sonchus oleraceus, Spilanthes americana, Sanguisorba minor, Sonchus asper, Sonchus oleraceus, Stellaria media, Taraxacum officinale, Tragopogon dubius, Tradescantia fluminensis, Tagetes micrantha, Trifolium repens, Tripogandra serrulata, Xanthosoma robustum, Youngia japonica. Genera: Mentha.

Silybum marianum

ysteban (ystebanar@hotmail.com) Sun Jan 19 13:16:13 2003

I don't see how you can rate it 2 out of 5 on a usefullness scale when it is probably the most powerful plant to repair and detox the liver, the cornerstone of the immune system... An impaired immune system is a factor in nearly every disease. Also nearly the entire plant is edible, easy to grow, etc. Even it is beautiful and beneficial to wildlife, Up the rating to a 5! I list another site below, but maybe you already have it?

Link: Natural Facts

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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