Medicinal Monday - Comforting Comfrey

Symphytum officinale also known as comfrey is a flowering perennial that was introduced to North America from Europe. Common comfrey has been cultivated as a healing herb since 400 B.C. in traditional medicine in Asia and Europe. It was brought to North America in the 1600s for medicinal use and Native American communities were quick to adopt this hardy plant to treat a variety of ailments.

About Symphytum officinale

This plant is in the Boranginaceae family or forget-me-not family and, is in a genus of 34 different species. This plant is referred to as common comfrey or true comfrey. It is found in moist grasslands, on riverbanks, and on the shorelines of ponds and lakes. It can grow up to three feet high. It has black, turnip-shaped roots and, large, hairy, lance-shaped leaves with wavy edges. The flowers emerge in coiled clusters and the flowers open in June and July. The flowers can be purple-blue, yellow, white, or red and have a tubular, bell-like shape. They bloom in drooping clusters. The fruit consists of four to five black or brown nutlets that usually appear in August or September.

Medicinal Uses

Many Native American communities considered comfrey a sacred healing plant and drank it as tea as well as using it topically. They made an infusion of the roots for heartburn and dysentery. An infusion was also used to help aid heartburn and nausea in pregnant women. A poultice was made from the roots to treat broken bones, sprains, and bruises. This poultice helped to set bones before plaster of Paris. Syrup was made of comfrey and other herbs to treat coughs. A tea was also made to cure the inflammation of many organs. 

Did You Know...

Other names for true comfrey are Quaker comfrey, boneset, knitbone, bruisewort, and slippery root.

In ancient Rome, comfrey leaves were applied to injuries to stop bleeding during chariot races.

The flowers attract bumblebees.

Historically in the United Kingdom, a poultice was made from the roots to treat sprains, bruises, and broken bones.

Comfrey contains an alkaloid that has the potential to increase the risk of liver toxicity. In 2001, the FDA banned products for internal use.

The genus name comes from the Greek word symphyo meaning to grow together and phyton for plant as in a plant that was believed to heal wounds.