

Note: harvest the outer leaves first so the plant can continue growing. Snip the stems off from the leaves you have harvested. Use a garden knife or shears to cut them down to a couple of inches above the soil.
#Comfrey symphytum officinale plants full
When the leaves are at least 2 ft tall, grab some gloves and collect a bucket full of the large, fuzzy leaves.Due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids there is concern for hepatic toxicity and should therefore be only applied externally.īest of all, Comfrey can provide a completely free nutrient-rich source of fertilizer which can be used all season long It contains allantoin, a hormone-like substance that stimulates cell division, making it valuable for healing wounds, ulcers and broken bones. Folk medicine names for comfrey include knitbone, boneset, and the derivation of its Latin name Symphytum (from the Greek symphis, meaning growing together of bones, and phyton, a plant), referring to its ancient usesĬomfrey is one of the most important medicinal herbs for injuries. Fond of moist soils, comfrey has a thick, hairy stem, and bears long tubular bell shaped flowers that are a dull purple, blue or whitish color, and densely arranged in clusters.Ĭomfrey is also known as boneset, knitbone, black wort, wall wort, and slippery root. There are up to 35 species, known by the common name comfrey. This variety, Symphytum officinale, is used in gardening and herbal medicine. Comfrey is a perennial shrub that is native to Europe and some parts of Asia. Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) Black Wort Boneset Heirloom HerbĬomfrey, is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae.
