Thistles

picture of a thistle with an open flower

The thistle, Cynara cardunculus, is a vegetable plant that belongs to the family AsteraceaeThe thistle and the artichoke are considered today as two horticultural varieties of the wild thistle. This is native to Mediterranean Europe and North Africa and is one of the oldest plants that exist and that had been abandoned, but today they return with great force.

In addition, thistle is not only fine in flavor and low in calories, but it is also very decorative.

Features

wild plant with purple flower

In its first year of life this plant generates a rosette It has enormous leaves that can measure up to a meter long and 0,6 meters wide and is deeply divided.

They are subspinous, pinnate and with a whitish underside as well as tomentose that has quite pronounced ribbing. In its second year of life and from the center of the rosette a stem is produced that is ribbed, with a measurement of about 150 centimeters high approximately and where at the top it branches.

It has huge flower heads that are responsible for producing artichokes and it has flowers that are tubular and called florets of a beautiful violet color, with a feathery and sessile texture that are arranged on top of the receptacle, this being quite fleshy and surrounded by oval and also pointed bracts. The fruit of the thistle is a kind of a dark brown tone with a plume that has a silky texture.

The stems of the thistle may be covered with many thorns, so tiny that they are hardly visible and can cause quite considerable pain when they come into contact with the skin. Various crops that do not have thorns have been developed so that this inconvenience can be overcome in this way.

Cultivation of thistle

It is usually carried out in the month of April or May directly in the field, on fairly fertile, properly prepared and soft soil. In soils that are quite clayey, it is best to replace some dirt with one that is much softer to place the seeds much better. They should be placed about three or five at a time, since they cannot be buried excessively.

Plants that are widely separated and have a fairly slow growth, allow this crop to be interspersed with spinach, lettuce or radish. It is necessary to fertilize the thistle in a convenient way and provide irrigation in the summer months, with the aim that the stems are much wider and much more fleshy.

In areas with a cold climate, on certain occasions it may be convenient to plant the thistle in pots during the month of May and afterwards. transplant them into the ground in the same way as with direct sowing.

Uses

The stems and stalks are eaten by blanching when roasting and are usually cooked. The flower heads can be used in preparations that include artichokes. It also has coagulant properties for the production of the curd of some Iberian cheeses. On the other hand, it is possible to obtain biodiesel through the oil that is extracted from its seeds, which with respect to the composition is quite similar to the seeds of the sunflower.

Varieties

Milk thistle

Characteristics of milk thistle

El milk thistle o Silybum marianum It is a herbaceous plant that belongs to the family of the Asteraceae and that it has its origin in the Mediterranean. The leaves of this plant have an oval shape and a measure of about 30 centimeters; its basal ones are distributed in the form of a rosette, edges have lobes that are irregular as well as thorns, of a bright green color with white nerves and a measure of between 20 and 180 centimeters.

The flowers have an intense pink color, although they can also be der a blue-purplish that usually appears in the second year, reaching up to about three inches in diameter.

It has external bracts that They are shaped like a curved spike with spines that are lateral. Those that are medium-external have small spines close to a kind of apex that is also spiny. They need a bed for planting that is prepared, soft, level and weed free, since unlike other types of variety of thistles this can contaminate the product.

The recommendable thing is proceed to sow in the autumn months, in lines that have a distance between 60 and 70 centimeters. The depth that the soil must have must be homogeneous so that the plants can emerge evenly, so about two centimeters would be enough. Weevils are insects that can cause quite serious damage. To remove them you can use a good chemical control that includes some systemic insecticide, as it gives excellent results.

The borriquero thistle

wild plant called borriquero thistle without flower

El Onopordum acanthus or also known by the name of borriquero thistle, like ansarina or borriquera artichoke, is a plant that is part of the family Asteraceae  and that he has had the opportunity to naturalize in each of the continents. Its enormous size, the leaves and the stem that is densely hairy with white hairs and the chapters that have a magenta color, make this thistle one of the most striking and beautiful.

It can measure between 50 and 200 centimeters. Its stem is covered by spines that are quite strong, broadly winged, rough in texture, densely hairy and with white hairs that cover it.

The flowers are arranged in chapters that give the appearance of having a single flower, with a measurement of about four to seven centimeters wide, which is surrounded by bracts. Its leaves are arranged alternately and do not have a petiole and its blade has an oval shape with fairly large teeth and covered by spines.

In medicine it was used as a kind of diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, as a stimulant and as a hypotensive. But it was also used as an antiseptic for the skin, as it is very good for treating dermatitis, burns, eczema, sores and wounds. In food they are usually prepared like asparagus when their stems are tender. The leaves once they have been peeled can be cooked like vegetables, the roots being so tender that they can be boiled to be served with butter.


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