Original Receipt in Evelyn 1699;32. Thistle. Take the long stalks of the middle Leaf of the Milky-Thistle, about May, when they are young and tender: wash and scrape them, and boil them in Water, with a little salt, till they are very soft, and so let them lie to drain. They are eaten with fresh Butter melted not too thin, and is a delicate and wholsome Dish. Other stalks of the same kind may so be treated, as the Bur, being tender and disarmed of its Prickles, &c.
Silybum marianum, the common milk thistle