Denny and everyone,This is an interesting plant and the information I'm about to give is from The Readers' Digest book, "Magic and Medicine of Plants", 1986. The book has beautiful pictures of the various herbs and plants. It says:==================================="Milk ThistleSilybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.Marian Thistle - Composite Familly - CompositaeLike athletes in training, European wet nurses once kept to a special diet, which included milk thistle. The plant increased lactation, they believed, because the white veins that mottled its leaves represented drops of the Virgin Mary's milk, fallen there when she nursed the baby Jesus. This homely belief imposed no hardship apart from the chore of removing the spines; without the, the plan makes a wholesome and delicious food that has long been popular in France.Apart from its imaginary power to promote lactation, one of the severa medical virtues tradditionally ascribed to milk thistle turns out to have a factual basis. The first-century A.D. Roman naturalist Pliny stated that the plant was "excellent for carrying off bile." In other words, it restores impaired liver function. This has been demonstrated by modern research. The plant contains the chemical substance silymarin, which has a dramatic regenerative effec on the liver. By stimulating the growth of new liver cells, the substance promotes self repair in a damaged liver. It supplies an antidote to the death cap mushroom (Amanita phalloides), which kills its victims by destroying liver cells.Habitat: Fields, roadsides, waste placesRange: Native to the Mediterranean region, milk thistle is naturalized i North American mainly on the Pacific Coast, from British Columbia to California, and in the East from Ontario to Alabama.Identification: A annual or biennial herb growing up to 6 feet tall, milk thistle has coarse, lobed, prickly-edged leaves streaked with conspicuous white veins. Crimson to reddish-violet flowers (May-June) are borne in solitary heads, 2 inches across surrounded by prominent, spiny bracts.Uses: The fruit is the source of silymarin, a liver regenerative drug used in the treatment of hepatitis and cirrhosis and in death cap mushroom poisoning and other forms of liver poisoning. Herbalists say the whole plant is good for both appetite and digestion. Milk is used as a salad green and cooked vegetable."I thought that was kind of interesting. Hope you all enjoyed it.calida