Do You Know Blessed Thistle?

Blessed Thistle - Do You Know It?

Blessed Thistle - also known as Holy Thistle (lat. Cnicus benedictus) - is an annual, robust, thistle-like plant from the aster family (lat. Asteraceae). It is commonly called St. Benedict's thistle, spotted thistle, or bitter thistle. The plant originates from southern Europe and also grows wild in Syria, Persia, and the Transcaucasus region. It is particularly cultivated in Hungary and Thuringia for medicinal purposes. In our regions, Blessed Thistle is grown more as a medicinal plant than as a culinary herb. In the wild, this medicinal herb occurs only rarely.

Blessed Thistle is a plant that grows up to a height of 50-60 cm. The plant is glandular-hairy. The stem is reddish, spreading-branched, sticky on the surface like the leaves. The leaves are long, spiny, alternately lanceolate to ovate with a broad winged petiole. The flowers are at the ends of ovate branches. They have a pleasant yellow color, with brownish-red spines at the edges. The flowers on the sides have neither stigma nor pistil. The flowers inside are larger and have a five-lobed corolla. They bloom in June and July. The fruits of Blessed Thistle are downy achenes with a sweet taste.

Growing Blessed Thistle

Blessed Thistle will thrive if we provide it with a sunny location, sheltered from wind. It prospers in deep, nutritious soil that is moist and rich in lime. You can work farmyard manure into the future bed as early as autumn. If you continue to fertilize with lime later during plant growth, the herb yield will increase.

Blessed Thistle seeds are sown as early as April, in rows 35 cm apart. You can use a bed after root vegetables. They usually germinate after about 10 days. Sow the seeds quite densely; once they grow, they need to be thinned out. If we let the bed become overgrown, the plants should be mowed with a sickle at a height of 10 cm above the ground. If we have thinned them out and cutting is easier, we cut the plants with a knife. For drying, young leaves are more valuable than whole herbs. Weed the bed with young seedlings. Larger plants grow so densely that no weed can penetrate through them.

The leafy herb is harvested shortly before flowering at the beginning of June. Blessed Thistle can be harvested 3 times: first the herb with leaves, second the flowers, and finally the seeds. Blessed Thistle is dried in the shade or in an oven at 40°C. Seeds are harvested just before full maturity. The entire flower heads are picked and left to ripen in the sun.

Medicinal Plant

Blessed thistle is cultivated primarily for its non-fragrant, intensely to bitterly tasting substance called cnicin. Also for extracts to obtain essential oil, tannin, mucilage and resin. In folk medicine, it is used in decoctions for stomach complaints and chest and liver pains. The sweet oily seeds are used for side stitches, similar to dried plums. The dried aerial parts of blessed thistle have an unpleasant smell when fresh and taste intensely bitter. Don't let this discourage you. Using blessed thistle has strong antiviral effects. It helps cleanse the body, has antibacterial effects, and aids in convalescence after digestive tract operations and gallbladder problems. The antiviral effects of this medicinal plant are utilized in treating shingles. Externally, it can be used on poorly healing wounds, skin inflammations, leg ulcers, psoriasis, and eczema. The infusion for internal use is prepared from one teaspoon of dried herb and 1/4 liter of water. One cup of this medicinal tea prepared this way should be taken twice daily. Do not use blessed thistle if you have kidney disorders and do not use it excessively long. Overdosing with this herb may cause vomiting and kidney irritation. Blessed thistle also has applications in veterinary medicine. The bitter root of blessed thistle is added to some liqueurs or wines.

Author: Hana Michalíková