{"id":1600,"date":"2015-12-01T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T09:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kert.herbakastely.hu\/en\/?p=1600"},"modified":"2021-06-04T15:07:55","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T13:07:55","slug":"comfrey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kert.herbakastely.hu\/en\/comfrey\/","title":{"rendered":"Comfrey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Comfrey<\/h1>

Symphytum officinale<\/p>\n<\/div>

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In cosmetics<\/h2>
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Comfrey has been used in folk medicine as a poultice for treating burns and wounds.
\nA combination of vitamin C, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds makes this the perfect solution for skin irritations of all kinds, from psoriasis to acne.<\/p>\n

Relieves pain and inflammation caused by injuries and degeneration, especially the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
\nComfrey salves, ointments and teas are best known for the topical treatment of burns, skin ulcerations, abrasions, lacerations, flea and insect bites, and just about any skin irritation. Comfrey’s astringent tannins form a protective surface over wounds that promotes healing. You may want to try comfrey or allantoin skin creams for diabetic sores. For weeping eczema, make a tea of comfrey and apply the liquid as a compress.
\nFresh leaves can be applied to bruises, fractures, sprains, and other injuries.<\/p>\n

Many healing effects of comfrey are attributable to allantoin, a compound shown to speed cell production both inside and outside the body. Comfrey works so fast that many herbalists will add antibacterial herbs such as goldenseal or thyme to comfrey salves to prevent sealing bacteria inside a fast healing wound.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n

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As a medicine <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Reduce pain, eliminate inflammation, boosts the immune system, promote health and growth, strengthen bones, heal skin, prevent cancer, and improve respiratory health.<\/p>\n

Symphytum officinale roots have been used in the traditional Balkan medicine internally (as tea or tincture) or externally (as ointment, compresses,or alcoholic digestion) for treatment of disorders of the locomotor system and gastrointestinal tract. The leaves and stems have also been used for the treatment of the same disorders, and additionally also for treatment of rheumatism and gout.<\/p>\n

Contraindications<\/strong><\/p>\n

Herbalists are divided on the internal use of this age old herb, on the one hand it has been used safely for centuries and on the other the pyrrolizidine alkaloids that are concentrated in the root and to a lesser extent the leaves have toxic effects.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Culinary uses <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Culpepper says:<\/p>\n

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‘The great Comfrey (“great” to distinguish it from the “Middle Comfrey” – another name for the Bugle) restrains spitting of blood. The root boiled in water or wine and the decoction drank, heals inward hurts, bruises, wounds and ulcers of the lungs, and causes the phlegm that oppresses him to be casily spit forth…. A syrup made there of is very effectual in inward hurts, and the distilled water for the same purpose also, and for outward wounds or sores in the fleshy or sinewy parts of the body, and to abate the fits of agues and to allay the sharpness of humours. A decoction of the leaves is good for those purposes, but not so effectual as the roots. The roots being outwardly applied cure fresh wounds or cuts immediately, being bruised and laid thereto; and is specially good for ruptures and broken bones, so powerful to consolidate and knit together that if they be boiled with dissevered pieces of flesh in a pot, it will join them together again.’<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Interesting facts <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

In the garden<\/strong>
\nIts long tap roots can go as deep as 10 feet enabling it to accumulate minerals in its leaves and it is great as a liquid compost, particularly for tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Bees<\/strong>
\nThe flowers are mostly visited by bumblebees<\/p>\n

In agriculture<\/strong>
\nIt has been promoted in the past as a forage crop. Comfrey is used as fodder for livestock and gardeners state that it enriches compost.<\/p>\n

As a natural dye<\/strong>
\nTo give an olive green.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Origin of name <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

The generic name ‘Symphytum’ is thought to be derived from the Greek symphyo: ‘to make whole’ and phyton: ‘plant’.<\/p>\n

Similarly the common English name, comfrey, is thought to be corrupted from the Latin confero meaning ‘to gather together’ which metaphorically captures this healing action of the herb strengthening the tissues of the body. The same Latin word explains another obscure name of the herb – ‘great confound’.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Other Names <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Common comfrey or true comfrey, Quaker comfrey, cultivated comfrey, consound, boneset, consound, blackwort, bruisewort, knitbone, knitback, slippery root, Yalluc (Saxon), consolida, ass ear.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Mythologies and stories <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Miraculous stories of healing broken and sprained limbs in incredibly short periods.<\/p>\n

An attempt at making stamp glue becomes fodder for livestock<\/strong><\/p>\n

Comfrey is mucilaginous, meaning that it secretes a mucilage which can be sticky. In the mid 1800\u2019s, a Quaker, Henry Doubleday, the inventor of postage stamp glue, had run out of gum arabic for his formula. Mr Doubleday read an article on comfrey in the \u201cRoyal Agricultural Society\u2019s Journal\u201d of 1871 in which he learned that it possessed this mucilaginous property. And he believed that he could extract this substance to use as glue. When he sent to St Petersburg for some comfrey plants, the gardener sent him seedlings that had grown between the rows of the established perennials instead of larger, more established plants. These seedlings were the result of cross-pollination of two pure strains: comfrey from the Caucasus, and the native European comfrey. It is not known if Mr Doubleday was able to extract his glue-like substance from these comfrey plants, but it is known that he fed the comfrey to his livestock. It was a very hardy and prolific strain, yielding from 100 to 120 tons per acre; much more than the former yield of 31 pounds per acre with the plants in the British Isles. Because of the high yield and the nutritional profile of comfrey, Mr Doubleday grew comfrey to fulfill his dream to feed a hungry world.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Native range <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

It is native to Europe and is known elsewhere, including North America, as an introduced species and sometimes a weed.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Family\/genus <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Perennial flowering plant of the genus Symphytum in the family Boraginaceae.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Description <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

The plant is erect in habit and rough and hairy all over. There is a branched rootstock, the roots are fibrous and fleshy spindle-shaped, an inch or less in diameter and up to a foot long, smooth, blackish externally, and internally white, fleshy and juicy.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n

Components <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Allantoin, mucilages, tannins, rosmarinic acid, silicic acid<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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