Flower
Milk thistle

© Alnilam · CC BY-SA · Wikimedia Commons

© Robert Martin · CC BY · iNaturalist

© C T Johansson · CC BY · Wikimedia Commons

© Robert Martin · CC BY · iNaturalist

Milk thistle

Silybum marianum

Scientific name

Silybum marianum

Local namesmeryem dikenimeryemana dikenisütlü diken

Similar species

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Identification suggestions (from the community or from AI) and the information here may be wrong; this app never confirms that anything is safe to eat. Do not consume wild plants, mushrooms or seafood without expert confirmation. Nothing here is medical advice.

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The stiff yellow marginal spines prick deeply.

  • Do not touch

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Key identifying features

  1. 1

    White marbling along the leaf veins, as if spilt with milk

  2. 2

    Purple tuft above large backward-curving spiny bracts

Flower

Growth habit
Herbaceous (no woody stem)
Maximum height
1.5 m

Leaf characteristics

Leaf arrangement
Alternate (one by one along the twig)
Leaf type
Simple (one piece)
Leaf margin
Spiny

Flowering

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • AApril
  • MMay
  • JJune
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D

Classification

The rungs scientists use to place living things by how closely related they are — from broad to narrow.

Family
Asteraceae
Genus
Silybum
Scientific name
Silybum marianum
GBIFWikidata