![]() ![]() Like others in the Boraginaceae, they tend to flop over once they reach a large size, and are best chopped to the ground for another round of flowering. In practice, grow them like you would grow mint, with rich soil, plenty of water, and either physical barriers (below ground) or physical distance from smaller plants. While not all species are invasive, caution should be taken to ensure the plants do not escape, not as much because they will run rampant through your yard, but so they don't overwhelm neighboring plants, because they will grow quite large. Plants grow easily from root cuttings, which can also make them difficult to remove once planted, often requiring sifting through the soil for root fragments by hand. ![]() Seed germinates readily after cold stratification or being sown shallowly in the Autumn and left out in the elements until germ in spring. The root structures vary from species to species, some being tuberous, rhizomatous, or taprooted while some seem to be a mix of these in functionality. The safest bet, however, is to avoid internal use and stick to external use by way of poultices made from the roots and eldest leaves chopped, mashed, and wrapped directly over the affected area and left for hours to "do it's thing". Some strains are reputed to have lower concentrations and different types of alkaloids apparently allowing limited internal use as a tea or tincture using the roots or eldest leaves, but not while the plant is in flower due to higher alkaloid content. Internal use is not recommended because of the varying concentrations of alkaloids reputed to cause liver damage, and in the views of some scientists, cancer. The flowers are very attractive to bees of various types.Ĭomfrey in general has a long history of medicinal use due to the high concentrations of Allantoin, used to treat a wide variety of ailments including broken bones and sprains (one common name is 'knit-bone'). The flowers are born on scorpioid cymes and range in color depending on the species from light yellow to dark purple. They commonly have hairy leaves, some as long as two feet, with either soft or rough hairs covering the plants. The genus Symphytum, commonly called Comfrey, is a widespread genus native to Europe, but are particularly common around the Mediterranean region. ![]()
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