So far on our herbal tour of Zaytuna Farm we’ve met Rosemary, Yarrow, Aloe, Mint and Sage. Today we’re stopping in at one of our more controversial herbal heroes. Allow me to introduce you to Symphytum officinale, previously known variously as knitbone, healherb, wound wort and all heal. More commonly known as Comfrey, he’s been used medicinally for aeons, but in recent years has fallen out of favour over fears of toxicity. Comfrey is a complex character, but like many herbal heroes, one that’s worth getting to know better.
To begin with there is not just one comfrey. There are more than 30 species of Comfrey. There’s your regular Symphytum officinale. There’s Russian comfrey, Symphytum x uplandicum, which is said to make the best compost and fertiliser. Isabel Shippard recommends the hybrid species Symphytum uplandicum x peregrinum, as being the most beneficial for human use, as it is free of the problematic alkaloids mentioned below. She also mentions that inaccurate labelling is an issue with comfrey being sold by nurseries and garden shops, adding to the confusion.
Comfrey is a hairy, slightly prickly fellow, quite lovely to look at but not a plant to really snuggle up to. It has deep roots, dark green leaves, and the entire plant is covered in short, rough hairs. Flower colour varies between species, though the hybrid recommended above is a sterile, and does not set seed. Regular picking of the leaves will encourage new growth and discourage flowering.
Comfrey growing at Zaytuna Farm.
Growing comfrey
At Zaytuna, comfrey moves around, holding up edges here and bordering bananas there, but there’s always some quietly doing it’s thing somewhere on site. At the moment it’s really loving being interplanted with mint and sweet potato under the bananas. In Zaytuna’s subtropical climate comfrey is a perennial herb but in colder climates it can die back in winter. Comfrey likes sun or partial shade and when he finds a place he likes he can really make himself at home, and can be extremely long-lived. He likes humus-rich soil, and plenty of water but doesn’t like being waterlogged.
Comfrey has thick, clumping roots which expand but do not generally run, though at least one species, Creeping Comfrey, will do just that. Comfrey can most easily be propagated by root division, with each piece of root potentially growing into a new plant.
Medicinal uses of comfrey
Comfrey contains Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, C and E, as well as boron, calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, sodium and zinc. As comfrey has deep roots, in can draw up minerals that other plants can’t reach, this in turn can benefit plants growing nearby. It’s also used to enrich soils, as a mulch or liquid tea. In a compost pile, it’s considered an activator, similar to manure, in that it will help speed up the process. As a mulch, it’s especially beneficial for potatoes, strawberries and tomatoes, but also useful for fruit trees and other crops as well.
Comfrey was a traditional nutritive boost for wellness and many people attest to their mothers and grandmothers using it during childhood illnesses. As the leaves are hairy and rough, they are often used finely sliced in salads, cooked in soups, or blended into juices. Although it is illegal for medicinal use it can still be sold and eaten as food.
Comfrey’s use internally is controversial due to the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA). In Australia, it’s prohibited for internal therapeutic use by government legislation, as a result of concerns over the possible effects of PAs building up over time, and potentially causing liver damage. There is not a lot of research on comfrey itself and the prohibition appears to be precautionary rather than as a result of proven effects.
Research shows that PA levels in comfrey vary with growth stage and harvest time, with older leaves possessing less than younger. There are some known cases of PA poisoning due to contamination of food with seeds of other plants (not comfrey) much higher in PAs. Shippard also points out that dried comfrey has lower levels of PAs than fresh.
Many herbalists still recommend comfrey internally, and there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence on the benefits of this. Shippard’s book lists numerous cases of people including small amounts of comfrey leaves in their food or drinks for medicinal purposes and benefiting from it. Buhner recommends comfrey root powder as part of a treatment for ulcerated stomachs. Caution is recommended for internal use specifically by pregnant or breastfeeding women, by people with cancers or tumours or a history of liver problems.
Comfrey is more widely used and has long been the go-to-guy for herbalists treating sprains, bruises, ulcers, rheumatism, muscular pain and skin conditions. It is often used in compresses, poultices and salves for many of these purposes. An infused oil is a common base for salves and comfrey leaf treatments. PA intake is not considered an issue when applied externally due to its low absorption through the skin.
Comfrey is a staple in many herbalists’ and permaculturists’ gardens, and I’ve only scratched the surface of how it’s used. It’s careful use is much older than the government rulings on it, so I’d love to hear from readers who’ve had close encounters of the comfrey kind. What was your experience? Have you got any comfrey stories to share?
Resources:
The Modern Herbal Dispensatory, by Thomas Easley and Steven Horne
How Can I Use Herbs in My Daily Life?, By Isabel Shippard
Herbal Antibiotics, by Stephen Harrod Buhner
Herbal Remedies, by Nicola Peterson
Hello always have grown the comfrey, a Macedonian friend said that as kids they ate it battered and fryed when food was scarce and called it false fish havnt tried that myself.
Thanks for the comfrey information.We have been using it as a veg bed border to chop and drop as a continuous compost. We’ve also had stupendous results with comfrey root tincture for muscle aches and pain. It’s a key ingredient in an all purpose ointment we make too. We’ve also had success in a warm coastal climate to mostly exclude kikuyu grass from invading the vegetable garden. In our current semi-arid, with extreme winter and summer temperatures, it keeps going through winter.
Can you please let me know how to make tinctures or salves using comfrey. I will be very grateful.
Not tinture, but oil. April is very good. She has an Etsy store that’s only open up four days, once every quarter, and she sells out every time.
https://youtu.be/I3AXpxNc5_I
Hi Carmen,
I don’t have much experience with tinctures but salves are fairly easy to make. You would first infuse the dried herb in a carrier oil, such as Olive, Jojoba or similar. It’s important that the plant matter is thoroughly dry, and that you cover the comfrey with oil. You can then infuse it at room temperature for at least a month, or you can do a hot infusion by placing the jar with herb and oil in a double boiler and keeping it warm (but not hot). You’d then remove the plant matter with a filter. The infused oil is now ready for use as an oil, or you can make a salve by adding a butter or wax that is solid at room temperature, such as Shea butter or beeswax to thicken it. A good general ratio is 5 parts oil to 1 part butter or wax. depending how hot it is where you are and how firm you want the salve to be.
I use the fresh roots on cuts and haemorrhoids, very effective. I also dry the leaves as winter/late summer fodder for chickens, rabbits, pigs etc… While I like the fresh leaves deep fried with an egg milk and flour batter, the hairs soften completely and the overall impression is of fried fish. Yum.
Comfrey is recommended as a poultice to heal the often long-term wound of the brown recluse spider in the USA.
Love comfrey, and have had great success with its healing properties for bruises, sprains & breaks.
I am wondering if you know much about Green Alkanet, which is in the same family, has a forget-me-not type flower, but leaf very similar to comfrey. I can’t find much information about it, but it is naturalised in my garden & I am wondering how I can use it medicinally. It seems to be good as a compost activator and mulch plant, and the chickens will eat it. Looking for more information.
Comfrey is amazing! So here’s a tip on how to get it to grow like mad in urban environments where space is a precious commodity, specially if your dog wont stop peeing on it and you live in very hot, dry weather (like Argentinian summers). Comfrey “is native to Europe, growing in damp, grassy places” according to the wiki article, so I tried to replicate it’s natural habitat by constructing a small cylinder out of wiremesh and shadecloth. The plant will shoot up in search for sunlight, and the long stems wont break in the wind thanks to the added protection. Comfrey is a Nitrogen hog, so the dog urine is a great thing, as long as it is not landing directly onto the leaf surface. The cylinder will help with that, and a sprinkle from the watering can will solve the odor issue. Increased stem length will provide extra growing points for more and larger leaves, raise the flowers to the delight of pollinators, and the fact that the dog pees the cylinder, means that he’ll leave the rest of the garden alone. A win for everyone!
My dog was trapped in a coyote trap my neighbor set and was released after 3 days of missing. Her paw was severed, swollen and gangrene had set in. I took her to the vet where we cleaned her wounds, vet fearing we would have to amputate but allowing me to try and heal her. I soaked her paw in Comfrey root tea 3 times a day for half hour. She didn’t like it so she licked while soaking and consumed a lot of the tea. It was an amazing healing. I watched the dark black gangrene shrink and sluff off and new pink shin apear as wound healed. The vet was amazed by her healing and she regained full function of her paw. It took awhile but she made a full recovery.
Thank you for the opportunity to share.
Aloha
Amazing story Judi, thanks for sharing.
How did you make the tea? What were the quantities? Dry or fresh? Root or leaves?
I was in a serious car accident in 1974, hit in the rear by a speeding large car, not wearing a seat belt, and suffered right side head injuries, among other injuries. My head swelled so much that my eyes were swollen shut. After many weeks, the swelling dissipated leaving a knot on my forehead which gradually reduced to about the size of a child’s fist. It remained that size for nearly a year.
I read about the almost miraculous qualities of comfrey and immediately bought some. That night, I slept with a comfrey leaf poultice on the knot, wrapping the bandage around my head. The very next morning, the knot was 1/2 the size!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I continued sleeping with the poultice every night for many months until the knot was barely visible and it stopped responding to the comfrey.
I consider this herb a deep “kindred spirit” and have used it on both people and animals externally and internally many times in the past 45 years, with success every single time. I drank comfrey tea regularly for many years with no side effects. I remember when the uproar regarding its potential liver damage with internal use occurred. I read the study used to take it off the market for internal use. The dose needed to produce liver damage in humans was equivalent to a person drinking 40 GALLONS per DAY!! (I cannot remember the length of time but it was substantial.)
Hi Kathy, do you have a link to the study? I’m very interested.
Would you please share you comfrey tea recipe, thatnk you Diane
A thought leading to a question. I decided I might plant Comfrey as a border. I also make tea infusions with Comfrey. Is Bocking 14 Comfrey the one to plant?
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Can you use comfrey flowers in foods, or just the leaves and roots? Ours has very pretty purplish flowers that I’d like to fold into some butter with some rose petals, but I wonder if they’ll have the same healing properties as the rest of the plant, or if they contain more toxic constituents?