Milk thistle

Scientific name of Milk thistle: Silybum marianum

Name of Milk thistle in different languages:-

English: Blessed milk thistle, Marian thistle, Mediterranean milk thistle, and Scotch thistle.

Sanskrit: Ksheeri vriksha

Malayalam: Paal Chedy

Plant description:

It is an annual plant sometimes biennial, found all over the world. It grows up to 200 cm tall. The leaves are shiny green; oblong to lanceolate, hairless, with milk-white veins, either lobate or pinnate, leaf margin is spiny. The stem is grooved and covered with a cottony look, and it is hollow. The flower heads are purple or red in colour, up to 12 cm long, flowering is June to August

Useful Plant parts:

Whole plant

Medicinal uses:

To treat liver disease, cancer, hepatitis C

Chemical contents:

Silymarin, silybin A and B, isosilybin A and B, silychristin, isosilychristin, silydianin and flavonoid-taxifolin

It is used as an ingredient to prepare the Ayurveda medicines like:

Dineseladi Velichenna