Our Lady's mild thistle
- noun
:
cardo de Nuestra Señora
- The characteristic white-blotched leaves make Our Lady's mild thistle easy to identify among other thistles.
Examples
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In California, Our Lady's mild thistle has spread widely along roadsides and open fields.
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Did you know that Our Lady's mild thistles can grow up to six feet tall?
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The herbalist recommended Our Lady's mild thistle for liver support and detoxification.
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Many gardeners grow Our Lady's mild thistle for its medicinal properties.
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In California, Our Lady's mild thistle has spread widely along roadsides and open fields.
-
The characteristic white-blotched leaves make Our Lady's mild thistle easy to identify among other thistles.
-
Many gardeners grow Our Lady's mild thistle for its medicinal properties.
Synonyms
1
5.0
A tall prickly plant with purple flowers and white spots on leaves used in herbal medicine to help the liver
1
9.9
A tall plant with spiky leaves, white marks, and purple flower heads used in herbal medicine
A tall thistle from the Mediterranean that has purple flower heads, leaves with white marks, and is called milk thistle
A tall prickly plant with purple flowers and large leaves with white veins
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'our', 'lady's', 'mild' and 'thistle' can infer that this is a named kind of thistle (the transparent part: a thistle that is 'mild' and associated by name with 'Our Lady'). However, the specific reference to the species Silybum marianum (milk thistle) and its medicinal/biological details are lexicalized and culturally conditioned by the proper name, so the full, specific meaning is not predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Our Lady's mild thistle gets its name from a folk story: one popular story says when Our Lady was nursing, drops of 'milk' fell on the leaves and left white marks. Because of the white spots and its softer, less sharp feel, people began to call the plant mild thistle, and today the name simply refers to this plant with white-blotched leaves.