FAMILY: Asteraceae Daisy family

BOTANICAL NAME: Cirsium vulgare

MĀORI NAME: pūngitangita (Best 1908), pūnitanita, kotimana

COMMON NAME: Scotch thistle

MEDICINAL: The stems are heated on embers and squeezed to obtain the juice which is used as a quick healer for cuts and sores (Adams 1945). Related species used in China and Southeast Asia for healing of wounds (Perry, L. M. 1980 ; cited in Brooker, Cambie and Cooper 1987). See also Riley 1994.