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   19 Mar 2024      ()
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Silybum marianum   (Milk Thistle)


Silybum marianum  (ASTERACEAE.) 
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000.

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Profile Date Dec-2007 (taxon update: none)
Citation for this page Mifsud, S. (2022). Silybum marianum - datasheet created on Dec-2007. Retrieved from MaltaWildPlants.com on 19-Mar-2024

Nomenclature and Basic Information

Species name :

Silybum marianum(L.) Gaertn.
Published in Fruct. Sem. Pl. 2: 378 (1791)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Silybum eburneum Coss. & Durieu
Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life] [Worldplants.de]

Plant Family :

Asteraceae Bercht. & J.Presl (=Compositae) (The Daisy or Sunflower Family)
123 species from the Asteraceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Milk Thistle, Blessed Milk Thistle

Maltese name(s) :

Xewk tal-Madonna, Xewk bagħli

Status for Malta :

Indigenous. Present on the Maltese islands before man

Frequency :

Very Common     Common    Frequent    Scarce     Rare    Very rare    Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: HEMICRYPTOPHYTE ( prostate plants with flowers close to the ground )
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection :

Not legally protected till the last update of this website (2/Mar/2022)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

April – July

Colour of Flowers:

Violet

Toxicity:

Not particularly toxic

Name Derivation :

Silybum:
marianum: Literally meaning related to 'Maria' which particularly refers to the Holy Mary. (Latin origin )

Planting in rural areas :

Can be planted in rural areas according to ERA Guidelines


Description, Habitat and Distribution
Habitat in Europe: Roadsides, waste places and cultivated ground.
Preferred habitat in Malta: Abandoned fields, dumped soil piles, valley sides, steppe, disturbed ground, field margins.
Botanical Description: Stem 20-150 cm, rarely shorter, glabrous or slightly arachnoid-pubescent, green. Basal leaves 25-50 x 12-25 cm, pinnatifid, glabrous or glabrescent, petiolate; cauline leaves smaller, less deeply divided, auriculate-amplexicaul, sessile, with yellowish-white spines up to 8 mm. Capitula 2.5-4 cm; peduncles long, erect, ebracteate or with few, small, leaf-like bracts; outer and middle involucral bracts with appendages 8-15 x 6-10 mm, gradually tapered into recurved, canaliculate spines 20-50 mm. Achenes 6-8 x 2.5-4 mm, shiny, black, with grey spots; pappus 15-20 mm.
Chromosome number: 2n=34
Distributional range: Mediterranean region and S. W. Europe cultivated for ornament and naturalized or casual throughout a large part of Europe

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):
Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):
Albania, the Balaeric Islands, Bulgaria, Corse, Crete, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Greece, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), ex-Jugoslavia, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta, Turkey (European part), Introduced in  Belgium, Britain (excl. Northern Ireland and Channel islands), Czeck Republic and Slovakia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia and former USSR
Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(from Euro+Med Checklist, 2019)
  Country codes  
Ab(A) AE(G) Ag Al Ar BH Bl(I M N) Bu dCa(C F G L P T) Cg Co Cr Ct Cy Eg Ga(F) Gg Gr Hs(G S) Ir It Jo Le Li Lu Ma dMd(D M P) Mk Rf(CS) Sa Si(M S) Sn Sy Tn Tu(A E) [Au(A) aAu(L) nAz(F G S T) nBe aBe(B) nBr By nCa(H) aCs Da aEs Ga(C) aGe nHb(E N) He aHo aLa Lt Mo No cPo Rf(C E NW S) Rm cSk Sl aSr Su Uk(K U)]

Links & Further literature (0 papers)

Google Web

Google Images

Google Scholar

Research Gate

Wikipedia

JSTOR

GBIF

Med Checklist

Cat. of Life

EoL

IPNI

World Flora Online

Plants of the World Online

Vienna Virt. Herb.

RBGE Herbarium

KEW Herbarium

MNHN

Arkive

IUCN

CABI
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.

Species Images (14 images)
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-0.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-1.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-2.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-3.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-4.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-5.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-6.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-7.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-8.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-9.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-10.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-11.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-12.
   Silybum marianum   -   Image Code: SLBMA-13.

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