Plants › Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters, and Allies
milk thistle
Silybum marianum
28 photos
Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.
Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.
Easily confused with
Italian thistleCarduus pycnocephalus
Bull ThistleCirsium vulgare
musk thistleCarduus nutans
Syrian ThistleNotobasis syriaca
Boar ThistleGalactites tomentosus
Artichoke ThistleCynara cardunculus
creeping thistleCirsium arvense
prickly sowthistleSonchus asper
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 19,150 |
|---|---|
| California | 16,991 |
| Alaska | 5,635 |
| Spain | 4,937 |
| Comunidad de Madrid | 1,792 |
| France | 1,525 |
| Italy | 1,460 |
| Cataluña/Catalunya | 1,056 |
| Texas | 764 |
| Hawaii | 725 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Group and habits
- Human edibleListed as edible by a harvested source. This is a research trait, not foraging advice.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
- Toxic to humansListed as toxic or not suitable as food for humans by a harvested source.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
- Medicinal useListed as having medicinal use by a harvested source. This is not medical advice.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
- Forb or herb growth formListed by a harvested source as having a forb or herbaceous growth form.USDA PLANTS Characteristics
- Annual plantListed by a harvested source as having an annual life duration.USDA PLANTS Characteristics
- Biennial plantListed by a harvested source as having a biennial life duration.USDA PLANTS Characteristics
- Pollinator-associated plantDescends from a plant lineage commonly associated with pollinators.Inferred from its group
Edibility, toxicity and medicinal traits are records from datasets, not advice. Never eat, handle or use a wild species on the strength of an app.
Classification
| Kingdom | Plants · Plantae |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Vascular Plants · Tracheophyta |
| Class | Dicots · Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Sunflowers, Bellflowers, Fanflowers, and Allies · Asterales |
| Family | Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters, and Allies · Asteraceae |
| Genus | Silybum |
Study it in a deck
Or build your own from the species near you.
Sources
- Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
- Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
- Traits: Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (CC BY 4.0)
- Traits: USDA PLANTS Characteristics (U.S. Government work / public domain)
- How much to rely on each source
Remember the name next time.
Practise milk thistle with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.