Medicinal Thistle Cnicus benedictus

Blessed thistle (lat. Cnicus benedictus) strikingly resembles a thistle, which is why we might not even consider it to be a medicinal plant. According to research, blessed thistle is indeed a plant with effects against aggressive purulent bacteria such as Stafylococcus aureus and Stafylococcus faecalis!

A bit of blessed thistle history

The first mention of it can be found in 1485 in the great herbal book called Garden of Health, where Galenus of Pergamon writes about it: "the nature of this herb opens clogged organs, penetrates through them and accelerates the excretion of urine." During the Middle Ages, it was called blessed thistle, as it was the most effective remedy during plague epidemics. In the 16th century, we find a trace of blessed thistle in a detailed treatise on Cardobenedicte in Adam Lonitzer's book Herbal Book. Ancient herbalists spoke of blessed thistle as a weapon against plague, because they believed it purified the blood and expelled putrefaction from the body. At the same time, they recommended it to mothers who needed to increase milk production.

Medicinal blessed thistle originally comes from the Mediterranean, where it grows wild in stony places, roadsides and abundantly in gardens. Today it is widespread in Italy and Spain. Its name comes from the Greek name benedictus, which means blessed, and knikos, which we can translate as to scratch. In our region, we grow it in gardens. Colloquially, blessed thistle is called bitter thistle, hare's eye, blessed thistle, ostropes, krasovlásek and blessed cardus.

Growing blessed thistle in the garden

Blessed thistle is an annual heat-loving plant reaching a height of 20 - 40 cm, strikingly resembling a thistle. We grow it exclusively from seeds, which germinate at the site within 8 - 10 days. We sow it in the bed during April in a sunny location at a distance of approximately 40 - 50 cm. It likes calcareous, humus-rich or clay-sandy soils. We regularly hoe the bed with blessed thistle plants and remove weeds. The basal leaves of blessed thistle are spiny at the top and indented. The others are elongated lanceolate and toothed. It has branches on the axis that are hairy. It blooms with yellow flowers. The fruit of blessed thistle is a rough achene.

The blessed thistle plant has hairs and prickles, so we use protective gloves when handling it. It also irritates mucous membranes, causing stinging and pricking sensations in the throat and larynx. We collect the herb tops measuring 25 - 30 cm just before flowering. We collect the leaves several times a year from June to August. The first and second harvests are of the highest quality. Subsequent harvests are of lower quality. The harvested blessed thistle mixture is sticky, so we dry it separately from other herbs. We don't expose it to direct sunlight as this would degrade it. The most suitable drying conditions are an airy place in shade at a temperature around 30°C, otherwise blessed thistle tends to become damp and moldy. We store it in well-sealed containers and protect it from light and moisture.

Versatile Blessed Thistle

Blessed thistle has antibacterial and anticancer effects, which is why it's used as a complementary effective herbal preparation for cancer. We also use it for loss of appetite, digestive problems, especially flatulence, for stomach and gallbladder diseases, insomnia, anemia, and flu epidemics. The blessed thistle plant is helpful in treating rheumatism and gout. In combination, it's used to increase breast milk production.

The blessed thistle plant contains crystalline bitter substances cnicin, terpenoids, malic acid, steroids, volatile essential oils, glycoside, fructose, tannins, polyacetylenes, lignans, resin, and abundant mucilage.

We use it in the form of tea, infusion, decoction, and for compresses. Note that blessed thistle tastes bitter. In moderate doses it has no side effects, but higher doses may cause nausea accompanied by vomiting; its use is not recommended during pregnancy.

Blessed thistle tea is prepared by adding one teaspoon of dried mixture to 200 ml of boiling water and letting it steep for 10 minutes. Then we strain the tea and drink it fresh 2 - 3 times daily on an empty stomach.

Blessed thistle compresses are used for various skin defects, eczema, psoriasis, shingles, herpes, skin inflammation and infections, erysipelas, and leg ulcers.

According to grandmothers' recipes, blessed thistle root wrapped in a burlap bag was used for wine preparation. Adding blessed thistle improves the taste of wine and gives it strength. In distilling, it's part of bitter liqueur - benedictine.