Comfrey

Comfrey is native to England and Europe but can be found in North America. There are different species and cross breeds of comfrey but Common Comfrey is considered to be the true comfrey.  Comfrey spreads quickly as it has a wide range of environments it can thrive in thanks to its deep root system.

Did you know that certain types of comfrey leaf tea were banned in Canada?   The root contains high levels of toxic, cancer-causing pyrrolizidine alkaloids (Foster & Duke, p. 244).

One type, Russian comfrey, has been hybred as a fodder crop (Foster & Duke, p. 244).  This type has been said to have become invasive to native plants in Saskatchewan.

A perennial flowering plant that grows to be about 1-3ft tall.  When harvesting, cut leaves before the plant flowers or bolts to obtain the greatest potency.

Known as the queen of multifunctional plants, comfrey has a wide range of uses and applications. 

The Latin word confera, means to "knit together", which is one of the plants earliest uses; bone and ligament regeneration!  This is why comfrey is also known as "knit bone".  To do this, the leaves and root were poulticed (Foster & Duke, p. 244).

Asides from a bone ailment, it can be used on the skin for wounds, burns, sprains and bruises, infused into a tea for arthritis.

Commercially, comfrey has been developed into ointments, gels, and creams that have removed 99% of the toxic alkaloids.  These products have proven benefits for treatment of osteoarthritis in the knees, swelling and pain in ankle sprains, and back pain relief (Foster & Duke, p. 244).

Part of the reason that makes comfrey so useful is its unique, deep root system which makes it one of the few plants that absorb Vitamin B12 from the soil, as well as being high in Vitamin K & K2, Vitamin A, riboflavin, pottasium, maganese and dietary fibre. 

Foster, S. and Duke, J. A. (2014). Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America, Third Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

http://monicawilde.com/is-comfrey-edible/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEHc_UzeT9w&feature=player_embedded#!

Pictures retrieved from 

https://pixabay.com/photos/comfrey-symphytum-medicinal-plant-3363279/ 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:225_Symphytum_officinale_L.jpg