blessed thistle
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blessed thistle
n.
An annual yellow-flowered herb (Cnicus benedictus) in the composite family, having spiny leaves and used in herbal medicine.
[From its use by monks in the Middle Ages.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. |  blessed thistle - tall Old World biennial thistle with large clasping white-blotched leaves and purple flower heads; naturalized in California and South Americagenus Silybum, Silybum - small genus of east African herbs herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests |
| 2. |  blessed thistle - annual of Mediterranean to Portugal having hairy stems and minutely spiny-toothed leaves and large heads of yellow flowersthistle - any of numerous plants of the family Compositae and especially of the genera Carduus and Cirsium and Onopordum having prickly-edged leaves Cnicus, genus Cnicus - one species: blessed thistle |
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