The best part about it is that comfrey can be chopped and dropped numerous times throughout the … Assessment report on Symphytum officinale L., radix. Because comfrey plants grow so rapidly, feel free to harvest the leaves several times a season. You can make a comfrey poultice with the leaf or the root. Use comfrey root in sachets for protection while traveling, and to keep your lover faithful while you are gone. Comfrey Root Vs. Comfrey Leaves. Comfrey root was blamed. The herb book I have says the beneficial part of the plant are the roots; I was wondering if the leaves have any properties as well. Comfrey is even believed to help decrease inflammation of tendon sheaths (Tilgner, 2018), supporting its use for joint sprains. Integrative Medicine. While both comfrey leaf and root are well known for their mucilage content and associated demulcent action, the root is more demulcent than the leaf. You can plant it once and have this very valuable plant forever. Comfrey leaves and roots are rich in tannins, a kind of compound that has an astringent effect on blood vessels. Comfrey is a shrub that grows in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. Both have medicinal properties but the root is believed to be better because it has a higher concentration of potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The common comfrey plant is known in Latin as Symphytum officinale and displays a “hairy” exterior. Comfrey is available under the following different brand names: Black Root, Blackwort, Bruisewort, Common Comfrey, Gum Plant, Healing herb, Knitbone, Prickley Comfrey, Salsify, Slippery Root, Symphytum officinale, and Wallwort. Oberlies NH, Kim NC, Brine DR, et al. https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/comfrey, Comfrey. As it happens, noone jumped onto the comfrey bandwagon, perhaps because of my advance warning, or perhaps I needn't have bothered. Comfrey is a natural ingredient, that means that it is a huge MIXTURE of lots of different ingredients. While old-timers still use the roots in external applications, modern complementary and herbal medicine practitioners recommend using the leaves only. This remedy can be made with comfrey leaves or comfrey root, or a combination of the two. In other words, it makes cells grow faster. However, health officials now strongly discourage any internal use of comfrey. Whether astride a horse in Provence, climbing a volcano in Costa Rica, taking a jet plane to New Zealand, or just spending a quiet day in my gardens, I am never without my herbal first-aid kit. Comfrey ROOT has been implicated in the pyrrolizidine alkaloid link with occlusive liver disease. The root and the leaves are used, the root being more active, and they can be taken internally or used externally as a poultice. Folk recipes mention using comfrey root tea to cure stomach upset and eating comfrey leaves fresh or cooked as a general tonic. University of Michigan https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/d04502a1, Comfrey. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of comfrey in herbal supplements since 2001. The shrub-like comfrey herb grows up to 5 feet tall, with broad leaves and dozens of small blue, white or purple flowers adorning each plant. It can be found in ointments, decoctions, poultices … A sterile cultivar is frequently planted in gardens, somewhat reducing the probability of escape, although it easily spreads from root fragments. Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC). The shrub-like comfrey herb grows up to 5 feet tall, with broad leaves and dozens of small blue, white or purple flowers adorning each plant. Comfrey is associated with Saturn and water and is sacred to Hecate. Use comfrey leaves for mulch; their broad leaves cover a wide area. Comfrey poultices should be left in place for several hours (overnight is ideal). The particulars of his case are blurred. All cases involve comfrey; in at least three, there are suggestions of overdose or abuse of the plant. Finally, “Gaia’s Garden” author Toby Hemenway notes that comfrey’s long tap roots also come to the aid of the organic gardener by loosening clay soil 2. (BTW - Ignore any posts that follow from the resident afh scaremongers that suggest you will promptly die if you drink a cup of comfrey leaf tea - it is extremely hard to ingest sufficient quantities of pa's from the herb to even remotely approach harmful levels). What is Comfrey? Additionally, both contain the substance allantoin, which is associated with cell regeneration. ... comfrey leaf comfrey root powder Comfrey is most commonly taken as a tea, a tincture or a poultice. FREE Shipping by Amazon. By default both of these usually become scaremongering contributors. It can grow up to 5 feet tall. Comfrey flowers are downward facing bells like borage flowers and range in color from lavender to cream. The roots of leaves of the comfrey plant contain chemical substances called allantoin and rosmarinic acid. Common comfrey (Symphytum officianale) and Russian Comfrey (S. uplandicum) are fast-growing leafy plants that are considered invasive in some areas.They spread rapidly, and are incredibly difficult to control because new plants can sprout from even tiny sections of root left in the soil. I like to also add one teaspoon of DMSO. Comfrey Botanical Profile. Crowns do best if you pot them first instead of planting directly in the garden. Comfrey ROOT has been implicated in the pyrrolizidine alkaloid link with occlusive liver disease. http://pennstatehershey.adam.com/content.aspx?productId=107&pid=33&gid=000234, Comfrey. Analysis of herbal teas made from the leaves of comfrey (Symphytum officinale): reduction of N-oxides results in order of magnitude increases in the measurable concentration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Copyright © 2021 Leaf Group Ltd., all rights reserved. The root contains 10-1000 times more Pyrrolizidine alkaloids than the leaves. From: jtreasure.jonno.demon.co.uk (Jonathan Treasure) Douglas has worked as a staff reporter for the Lakeville Journal newspaper group. Comfrey leaf has a long history of use to promote the healing of bones and wounds, ... Comfrey root is used to relieve pain from blunt injuries, promote healing of broken bones, sprains and bruises, reduce swelling and edema, and encourage the rapid and healthy regrowth of skin and tissue cells. Comfrey side effects. Spread the thick mixture approximately ¼ inch thick on the cloth and leave about 1 inch of cloth around the border. The long roots pull deeply-buried soil minerals from the subsoil to the top, making it available to other plants, according to Hemenway. The common comfrey plant is known in Latin as Symphytum officinale and displays a “hairy” exterior. Comfrey is a perennial plant that propagates easily from root divisions. Christiane Staiger is an industrial pharmacist at Merck Consumer Health Care in Germany and a member of the British Society for the History of Pharmacy. Take 3-4 tablespoons of comfrey root powder (root powder works much better than comfrey leaves as there are more alkaloids inside the root) Put comfrey root powder into a small bowl. In herbal medicine, we have used the roots and leaves of Comfrey, a fast-growing, long-lived plant that forms a ‘rosette’ of lance shaped leaves (up to 30cms long) that put up a tall flowering stem up to 1.5 meters high. In recent years the medicinal herb comfrey has, if not exactly withered under the microscope of modern science, at least shriveled slightly. ---Parts Used Medicinally---The root and leaves, generally collected from wild plants. If you’re making your own comfrey salve, UMMC strongly recommends using only older leaves. Therefore, applying a poultice made of comfrey root powder and leaf juice, or drinking tea made of comfrey root powder can greatly help in curing nosebleeds, bleeding in skin wounds, and in reducing and speeding the healing of bruises. whose agenda is to rubbish the use of herbal medicine one way or another. Distribution and Habitat: Comfrey is a plant indigenous to Europe and temperate parts of Asia. Add just enough water to turn it into a thick, wet paste, not too runny and not too dry. The leafy stem of comfrey is 2 to 3 feet high, stout, and covered with bristly hairs. So, it is with that background that i ask for your input on a critical permaculture issue: embracing comfrey. Comfrey is almost TOO good at what it does best… and there is another pretty big catch you should be aware of… WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID COMFREY. Comfrey Leaf Also Known As -Symphytum officinale, Bruisewort, Knitback, Knitbone, Boneset, Slippery Root, Bruisewort, Ass Ear, and Blackwort. All parts of the plant can be used including the root, leaves, stems and flowers. You use the term US I notice? Penn State Hershey. Both the roots and leaves of comfrey help in organic gardening. Recipe 2: four tablespoons of nicely chopped comfrey root are mixed with some boiling milk in a small bowl.Then, put the bowl on medium heat, and let it simmer until you get nice mixture. Comfrey leaf and root contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PLAs), a group of toxic compounds that can cause damage to the liver. Comfrey is a perennial herb related to forget-me-not and borage.Also known as Bruisewort and Knitbone, comfrey has earned an entry in every Materia Medica written since the 15th century, although it's been in use for much longer. But roots may also hold as much as 16 times the level of the alkaloids, warns UMMC. Some varieties produce yellow or purplish flowers alongside the broad, fuzzy leaves. This is the biggest difference between natural vs… Comfrey, Symphytum uplandica x Herbal Adventures with Susun S Weed by Susun S. Weed read other Herbal Adventures part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 . Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs Its various aliases include boneset, nipbone, knitbone, and healing herb. Natural Medicines Database. This herb has been utilized in folk medicine throughout Europe and North America and has been widely cultivated. // Leaf Group Lifestyle. Comfrey contains a special substance called allantoin, which is a cell proliferative. It has a tap root similar to dandelions. For over 2,000 years, comfrey root and other parts of the herb have been used to treat a variety of ailments. The younger leaves and roots contain higher amounts of the dangerous pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can be absorbed through skin. Comfrey is useful in healing sprains, bruises and promotes healing of bones. Take 3-4 tablespoons of comfrey root powder (root powder works much better than comfrey leaves as there are more alkaloids inside the root) Put comfrey root powder into a small bowl. You can use the leaf and the root, fresh or dried. Apply this thickly and liberally to the desired area. Infected Wounds. Comfrey grows best from bare-root crowns, which many online retailers carry. Milton Hershey Medical Center. The leaves of comfrey can get enormous and can easily be chopped and dropped around either itself or other plants growing nearby, covering a lot of bare soil. Its use as a medicinal herb is controversial as it is known to contain toxic alkaloids. Origin - Organically Grown, USA Overview - Comfrey is widely known as “one of nature’s greatest medicinal herbs”, and has appeared in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, as well as in herbals and compendiums around the world. Warning the public that tobacco can cause cancer or that alcohol is a potential liver toxin does not make us scaremongers. It is native to much of Europe, and various regions in Asia such as the Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Siberia, and Turkey, and is commonly found as a weed in temperate northern latitudes.