Comfrey Symphitum officinale L.

Comfrey is a perennial rugged herbaceous plant (Borraginaceae). The rootstock is short, multi-headed, the root is beet-like flesh and does not form tubers. The leaves are rough with hard and coarse hair, elliptical with short handles. Both the stems and the leaves are bristle-hairy. The flowers are bluish, purple, pink or white in inflorescence. Blooms in the summer.

It is found in very humid meadows and floodplains along the banks of the rivers.

Roots of comfrey are used (Radix Symphyti). Picking up August - October, by digging and using the roots of the 2-3 year old plants. They contain alkaloids, tannins and mucous substances, starch and others.

It is used in medicine as a gizzard for gastrointestinal disorders, against cough due to the mucus contained. It is also used for gait in paradontosis, purulent inflammation, difficult healing wounds, boils, and gargle with angina.

>> Back