Pedanius Dioscorides
Pedanius Dioscorides called this plant silybum. The genus "Gundelia" is named to honor Andreas von Gundelsheimer (1668–1715), a German botanist, while the species name " tournefortii" was named after Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, a French botanist, who together undertook a botanical journey to the Levant, during which the species was collected, described and illustrated.