Scolumus
Family: Asteraceae
English: Thistle
This is the Scolumus of Hesiod and Theophrastus. It is common in the Greek countryside, particularly in summer. In antiquity it was popular both in kitchen and popular medicine. In Greece it occurs in 3 or 4 species, among then the Scolumus hispanicus and the Scolumus maculates.
The plant is annual and biannual with erect petioles covered with deltoid thorns. It flowers by the end of March to August giving yellow flowers. It occurs in uncultivated and barren lands. The young individuals and their roots, if collected early in winter, cleaned and boiled, can be served with vinegar and oil or cooked with meat in egg-lemon sauce.
Dioscurides and Pliny believed that the roots of the plant are endowed with deodorant qualities. Xenophanes, Pliny reported, used the extract from thistle roots in his bath to wipe out the stench from his sweating body.
Popular Greek names:
"Christagatho", "Askolybroi", "Goula".
