Spotted thistle.

Milk Thistle

An annual or biennial plant of the Asteraceae family, up to 150 cm high. Taproot. The stem is weakly branched and is formed in the 2nd year of life.

The leaves are large, oblong-oval, spotted, glossy, with transverse wavy interrupted stripes; the edge is uneven, with yellow spines; veins are visible on the underside. Blooms from July to late autumn. The flowers are tubular, lilac-crimson or purple, collected in round baskets at the ends of the stems.

The fruit is a black and yellow achene with a tuft. The fruits ripen in September - October.

Milk thistle is widespread in the southern regions of the European part of our country, the Caucasus, Western Siberia and Central Asia.

Grows in weedy and dry places and along roads.

Propagated by seeds. Before sowing seeds, the soil is well seasoned with rotted manure.

The area for culture should be well lit and drained. Seeds are sown to a depth of 2-3 cm with a row spacing of 60 cm and a distance between plants of at least 10-20 cm.

Seeds and roots serve as medicinal raw materials.

The seeds are collected in late August - early September, when the wrappers on most of the side baskets have dried. Harvesting is carried out early in the morning, when the baskets have not yet blossomed. The collected raw materials are dried and cleaned of impurities.

Store in bags in well-ventilated areas for 1 year. The roots are dug up in the fall, shaken off the ground, washed in cold water and dried in the sun or in a dryer at a temperature of 40-50°C. Store in a closed glass container for 1 year.

The seeds contain fatty and essential oils, vitamin K, resins, mucus, tyramine, histamine, flavonoids (silybin, silydianin, taxophilin, silychristin), as well as macro- and microelements.

Milk thistle preparations enhance the formation and excretion of bile and increase the protective properties of the liver. They are used to treat liver diseases.

In folk medicine, milk thistle decoctions and juice are used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

The pharmaceutical industry produces drugs with milk thistle extracts - Silibor, Silibinin (Legalon), etc. They are prescribed for liver diseases.