This topic deals with the medical application of comfrey. Synonyms: Latin name: Symphytum officiale
- Comfrey
- Milk Root
- Bee-weed
- Curly Root
- Black salsify
- Salvation root
- Hare leaves and
- Narrowroot
- Kytta ointment
Explanation/Definition
The plant is called comfrey because of its healing properties. By “leg” we mean the bones (bones, e.g. collarbone) and “waves” means growing or coalescing together. The botanical name: symphyten comes from the Greek symphyein and also means to grow together.
The healing power of comfrey was already used in ancient times. Glaucus, a physician of the ancient Romans, used a root pap to treat bone fractures, sprains and bruises. Hildegard von Bingen boiled the herb of the medicinal plant with celery and wine and made a compress out of it and used it to heal peritoneal tears.
The Indians also used a comfrey root mush to heal wounds caused by sprains and swellings. Comfrey, Latin Symphytum officiale (officinale), belongs to the borage family, or carnivorous plants (families of the Boraginaceae). The herbaceous and bristly-hairy, 30 cm to 120 cm high plant likes to grow in sunny to semi-shady, nutrient-rich loamy soils.
It is a perennial. The upright, persistent stem grows from a juicy rootstock, black on the outside and white on the inside. The wrinkled, hairy leaves are egg-lanceolate and grow up to 25 cm tall.
The flowering time starts at the end of April and can last until September. The flowers of comfrey have a red-violet, sometimes dirty-white colour and hang in bells. The comfrey prefers damp places on the edge of forests, brooksides, moorland meadows and alluvial forests in Asia and Europe.
The harvest time for the root is in March and April, and October and November. The leaves are harvested in summer. For medicinal purposes, leaves and dried and fresh roots are used (as with the devil’s claw).
Summary
Comfrey is a medicinal plant that belongs to the borage family (Boraginaceae). It is a perennial, bristly and persistent plant that grows on moist nutrient-rich soil along ditches and floodplain forests. It is very undemanding and sprouts again every year, even without care.
The medicinal plant comfrey was once very popular in folk medicine. According to the latest scientific findings, the knowledge of the ancient healers has been confirmed. Important medically effective ingredients are allantoin, choline and tanning agents. Furthermore, silicic acid, essential oils and small amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids are also found.
Production
In comfrey, the root is mainly used in comfrey ointments and tinctures and gels. Comfrey preparations are only used externally. The finished preparations are available in pharmacies.
A decoction or the pulp itself can be prepared for envelopes. 100 g of dried root and 1 l of water are boiled together. The warm brew is used for envelopes.
For a poultice, take 2 – 4 tablespoons of dried and powdered root and add some hot water. The porridge is then spread on a cloth and the area to be treated is covered with it. Renew after two to four hours.
