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{{SPlantbox
{{SPlantbox
|familia=Asteraceae
|familia=Asteraceae
|genus=Silybum
|genus=Silybum
|taxo_author=Adans.
|lifespan=annual, biennial
|lifespan=annual, biennial
|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|Temp Metric=°F
|Temp Metric=°F
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|image=Upload.png
|image=Silybum_marianum.jpg
|image_width=240
|image_width=200
|image_caption=''Silybum marianum''
| name = ''LATINNAME'' <!--- replace LATINNAME with the actual latin name -->
}}
}}
'''Milk thistles''' are [[thistle]]s of the genus '''''Silybum''''' Adans., [[flowering plant]]s of the daisy family ([[Asteraceae]]). They are native to the [[Mediterranean]] regions of Europe, [[North Africa]] and the [[Middle East]]. The name "milk thistle" derives from two features of the leaves: they are mottled with splashes of white and they contain a milky sap.<ref>Hogan F, Krishnegowda N, Mikhailova M, Kahlenberg M. (2007). Flavonoid, silibinin inhibits proliferation and promotes cell-cycle arrest of human colon cancer. ''J Surg Res'' '''143''':58-65.</ref> However, it is the seeds of milk thistle that herbalists have used for 2000 years to treat chronic liver disease and protect the liver against toxins.<ref>Tamayo C, Diamond S. (2007). Review of clinical trials evaluating safety and efficacy of milk thistle (''Silybum marianum ''[L.] Gaertn.). ''Integrative Cancer Therapies''.'''6''':146-157. </ref><ref>Hogan F, Krishnegowda N, Mikhailova M, Kahlenberg M. (2007). Flavonoid, silibinin inhibits proliferation and promotes cell-cycle arrest of human colon cancer. ''J Surg Res'' '''143''':58-65.</ref>
Increasing research is being undertaken on the physiological effects, therapeutic properties and possible medical uses of milk thistle. <ref name="Gazák">Silybin and silymarin--new and emerging applications in medicine, Curr. Med. Chem., volume 14, issue 3, pages 315–38, 2007</ref>
Members of this genus grow as [[annual plant|annual]] or [[biennial plant]]s. The erect [[Plant stem|stem]] is tall, branched and furrowed but not spiny. The large, alternate [[Leaf|leaves]] are waxy-lobed, toothed and thorny, as in other genera of thistle. The lower leaves are cauline (attached to the stem without [[petiole (botany)|petiole]]). The upper leaves have a clasping base. They have large, disc-shaped pink-to-purple, rarely white, solitary [[flower]] [[head (botany)|head]]s at the end of the stem. The flowers consist of tubular florets. The phyllaries under the flowers occur in many rows, with the outer row with spine-tipped lobes and apical [[spine (biology)|spines]]. The fruit is a black [[achene]] with a white [[pappus (flower structure)|pappus]].
{{Inc|
{{Inc|
Silybum (an old Greek name applied by Dioscorides to some thistle-like plants). Compositae. Erect, glabrous herbs, sometimes grown in European gardens for ornament and also for the edible heads, roots, and lvs.: lvs. alternate, white-maculate above, sinuate-lobed or pinnatifid, the teeth and lobes spiny: heads large, solitary, terminal, nodding, homogamous; involucre broadly subglobose, the bracts in many rows: fls. purplish, all perfect; corolla-tube slender, limb 5-cleft to the middle or base: achenes smooth, obovate, oblong.—Two species, Eu., Afr., and Asia.
Silybum (an old Greek name applied by Dioscorides to some thistle-like plants). Compositae. Erect, glabrous herbs, sometimes grown in European gardens for ornament and also for the edible heads, roots, and lvs.: lvs. alternate, white-maculate above, sinuate-lobed or pinnatifid, the teeth and lobes spiny: heads large, solitary, terminal, nodding, homogamous; involucre broadly subglobose, the bracts in many rows: fls. purplish, all perfect; corolla-tube slender, limb 5-cleft to the middle or base: achenes smooth, obovate, oblong.—Two species, Eu., Afr., and Asia.
{{SCH}}
{{SCH}}
==Cultivation==
==Cultivation==
===Propagation===
===Propagation===
===Pests and diseases===
===Pests and diseases===
==Species==
==Species==
Only two [[species]] are currently classified in this genus:
* ''[[Silybum eburneum]]'' Coss. & Dur., known as the Silver Milk Thistle, Elephant Thistle, or Ivory Thistle
** ''Silybum eburneum'' Coss. & Dur. var. ''hispanicum''
* ''[[Silybum marianum]]'' ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) Gaertner, the [[Silybum marianum|Blessed Milk Thistle]], which has a large number of other common names, such as Variegated Thistle.
The two species [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridise]] naturally, the hybrid being known as ''Silybum × gonzaloi'' Cantó , Sánchez Mata & Rivas Mart. (''S. eburneum'' var. ''hispanicum'' x ''S. marianum'')
A number of other plants have been classified in this genus in the past but have since been relocated elsewhere in the light of additional research.
==Gallery==
==Gallery==
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<gallery perrow=5>
Image:Upload.png| photo 1
Image:Upload.png| photo 1
Image:Upload.png| photo 2
Image:Upload.png| photo 2
==References==
==References==
<references/>
<!--- xxxxx *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381 -->
<!--- xxxxx *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381 -->
<!--- xxxxx *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432 -->
<!--- xxxxx *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432 -->
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