Blessed thistle

Seeds: 50  / Botanical name: Cnicus benedictu

An essential ingredient of every good digestive bitters

Blessed thistle produces long, coarsely toothed, and white-haired leaves of succulent green in a rosette shape in spring. In the center of this rosette emerges a leafy, white-haired, five-angled stem with spiny, usually reddish-waxy bracts bearing the flower bud. In June, the thistle-like herb blooms with a yellow, daisy-like flower. Early accounts of its medicinal properties can be found in medieval and early modern sources. 

Natural habitat: Blessed thistle occurs naturally around the Mediterranean, in southwestern and southeastern Europe, extending to Asia Minor and North Africa.