Comfrey

Ass Ear; Black Root; Blackwort; Bruisewort; Common Comfrey; Consolidae Radix; Consound; Gum Plant; Healing Herb; Knitback; Knitbone; Salsify; Slippery Root; Symphytum officinale; Symphytum Radix; Wallwort

Pictures

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Tarragon | Thyme | Winter savoury | GROWTH HABIT TABLE Comfrey Comfrey is an attractive ornamental plant with large dark green leaves I use it as an additive to my compost or directly on the veggie patch as a great mulch It can also be

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COMFREY BREAK A LEG

Comfrey <i>Symphytum officinale< i> or Smeerwortel in Dutch or Gemeiner Beinwell in German contains several potentially beneficial substances that may be applied to the skin Generally it has high concentrations of allantoin a protein that encourages new cells to grow rosmarinic acid which is known to be anti inflammatory and tannins that help to firm skin tone Because comfrey also contains mucilage which swells in liquids it forms a soft sticky covering that stays in contact with the skin All of these properties make comfrey useful when applied topically to soothe and treat bruises minor skin irritation and sprains Comfrey may also have slight pain relieving properties It should be used only on unbroken skin however not on large or open wounds A mouth rinse made from comfrey may have some benefit in soothing sore gums and throat but care must be taken not to swallow it The mouth should be rinsed thoroughly with plain water after a comfrey rinse has been used

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Comfrey the bees favourite

One of my all time favourite plants comfrey I love the sheer stubbornness of it Once it gets a foothold it never leaves I ve dug up plants from near the woods to plant elsewhere in the garden and it keeps on growing and growing from the old spot and new When I moved here there was one plant near the water barrel and now the garden boasts over a dozen plants The bees go bonkers over the flowers It s a fine medicinal herb from way back when and is the perfect activator for the compost bin

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Comfrey and comfrey root has been used from very ancient times and is one of nature s greatest healers Used for arthritis it soothes and heals inflamed tissues and

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© Maria Brzostowska FOTOLIA

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COMFREY Symphytum officinale Common names Knit Bone Boneset Consound and Bruise wort This medicinal plant belongs to our most indispensable and valued herbs which nature has in

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Symphytum officinale Boraginaceae The name comfrey is derived from the Roman name conferva meaning to join together and it s botanical name symphytum from the Greek meaning to grow together or unite Comfrey was well

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Comfrey Symphytum officionale Fam Boraginaceae I first became interested in this plant as an animal feed it was supposed to be able to be cut several times a year and dried as a

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population Leafy vegetables are definitly getting a bit old and tough by now Still you might be lucky and still find some young sprouts of Mallow Daisy Sow thistle Comfrey or Bistort even this late in the season My favorite wild food of the season are Chanterelles Fresh from the forest there is nothing to compare to their delicate

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Organic Comfrey Root Picture of Organic 1 year old comfrey root Bocking 14 Cultivar We have grown distributed thousands of comfrey starts to people over the years We ship out nice sprouted plant cuttings

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Comfrey Smeerwortel

Contemporary herbalists view comfrey as an ambivalent and controversial herb that may offer therapeutic benefits but can cause liver toxicity One of the country names for comfrey was knitbone a reminder of its traditional use in healing Modern science confirms that comfrey can influence the course of bone ailments The herb contains allantoin a cell proliferant that speeds up the natural replacement of body cells Comfrey was used to treat a wide variety of ailments ranging from bronchial problems broken bones sprains arthritis gastric and varicose ulcers severe burns acne and other skin conditions It was reputed to have bone and teeth building properties in children and have value in treating many female disorders In past times comfrey baths were popular to repair the hymen and thus restore virginity Constituents of comfrey also include mucilage steroidal saponins tannins pyrrolizidine alkaloids inulin vitamin B12 and proteins Internal usage of comfrey should be avoided because it contains hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids PAs Note there are also non hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids Use of comfrey can because of these PAs lead to veno occlusive disease VOD VOD can in turn lead to liver failure and comfrey taken in extreme amounts has been implicated in at least one death In 2001 the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a warning against internal usage of herbal products containing comfrey There are ways to remove the pyrrolizidine alkaloids from comfrey and some herbal product manufacturers have begun doing so although the products will still be labelled for external use only Excessive doses of Symphytine one of the PAs in comfrey may cause cancer in rats This was shown by injection of the pure alkaloid The whole plant has also been shown to induce precancerous changes in transgenic rats source Wikipedia With thanks to <a href= http www flickr com photos nesster >Nesster< a> for the TTV

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and thus restore virginity Constituents of comfrey also include mucilage steroidal saponins tannins pyrrolizidine alkaloids inulin vitamin B12 and proteins Internal usage of comfrey

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To Parent Directory Saturday August 19 2000 10 59 AM 10497 DBF 9807 Comfrey flowers JPG Saturday August 19 2000 10 59 AM 12440 DBF 9807 Comfrey plant JPG Saturday August 19 2000 11 00 AM 25550

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Comfrey Cream A deep moisturizing and rejuvenating night cream comfrey is traditionally known to regenerate new skin cells and is softening to skin when used consistently will soften lines and

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Photo by Kathryn Higgins Comfrey is a perennial with large alternate dark green hairy leaves and small purple bell shaped flowers The white mucilaginous root is black on the

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Richo Freshly dug comfrey root in front of 2ft Buddha

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called allantoin which promotes healing in connective tissue Medieval herbalists called it bone set and the root was lifted in Spring grated and used like plaster of Paris is today At Ragman s Lane Farm one of the UK s leading permaculture demonstration sites they have a quarter acre plot of comfrey see right into which the main nutrient flows from the farm are

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Top of page Cultivating Comfrey In The Garden FEEDING YOUR PLANTS Legumes such as Alfalfa take nitrogen from bacteria which in their turn fix nitrogen from the atmosphere But Comfrey just like Brassicas gets all its nitrogen from the soil Therefore to

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