Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) · Herb Profile

At a glance

Botanical name: Silybum marianum
Family: Asteraceae
Part used: Seed
Taste: Bitter
Temperature: Cool
Moisture: Dry

On temperature, Culpeper (1653) and Salmon (1710) read it as warm. The app keeps cool, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Limited data; avoid concentrated

While breastfeeding

Generally regarded as safe; traditional European galactagogue use. Compatible with breastfeeding.

For children

Generally safe; consult for therapeutic use under 12

Cautions

Asteraceae allergy; caution with hormone-sensitive conditions (mild estrogenic)

General contraindications

Limited data; generally avoided

Stewardship

Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) is cultivated and wild in Mediterranean ecosystems. Seeds harvested mid-late summer. Stewardship: Silybum — named for Mary's milk in medieval tradition — points to gospel imagery of the plant ecosystem.

In the traditional record

Milk Thistle — Silybum marianum has a traditional story: the Virgin Mary's milk spilled on the leaves, creating the white veins

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Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.