Comfrey

Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale) grows throughout England and southern Scotland, preferring damp places. It is also found growing in gardens where it is one of the more welcome weeds because it makes excellent compost.

Comfrey grows up to 48 inches (120 centimetres) in height. The stems are branched, with leaves growing all the way up. Leaves at the base grow on long stalks whereas those higher up have margins that grow down the stem as wings.

The flowers appear from May to June and are very attractive to bees. A patch of comfrey can often be heard as well as seen, with all the buzzing that comes from it! The flowers are bell-shaped and grown in sprays that hang down. A typical colour is purple, but comfrey flowers can also be white, cream or pink.

Comfrey has a long history as a medicinal plant. Herbalists in the 16^th century recommended the use of its roots (mixed in ale) as a remedy for back pain and a more recent use has been as a cough linctus when mixed with sugar.

However, the plant takes its name from its use in setting broken bones. The roots would be grated up and mixed with water to produce a sludge that was then wrapped round the broken limb. As it dried it worked like plaster of Paris by hardening to form a rigid cast. The Latin for “to bring together” is “conferre”, from which it is not a big step to “comfrey”.

The leaves are edible and are not unlike spinach when boiled.

The photo was taken in my own garden, which has always had comfrey in it despite all efforts to keep it down. As mentioned above, it can be used to make compost or be laid on the soil around other plants to provide “green manure” and prevent other weeds from growing.

© John Welford