Comfrey officinalis
Comfrey is one of the plants of the borage family; in Latin the name of this plant will be as follows: Simphitum officinalis L.
As for the name of the comfrey family itself, in Latin it will be: Boraginaceae Juss.
Description of comfrey
Comfrey is known under numerous popular names: borage, Adam’s grass, white-bellied, lop-eared, grupa, livestock, tallow root, bonebreaker and ox’s tongue. Comfrey is a perennial herb with a short black rhizome. Long, thick and rather branched roots will extend from such a rhizome, which will be almost black on the outside and whitish in color at the break. The leaves of this plant are numerous, they can be either oblong or oblong-ovate. Such leaves will be long-pointed, on top they will be appressed-bristly, and below they will be almost bare or may have a grayish color from bristly hairs. The lower leaves of Comfrey are quite large in size, they are endowed with long, narrow-winged petioles, while the upper leaves are sessile. The shoots of comfrey are powerful, their height is approximately fifty to one hundred centimeters, they are branched, and their edges are hooked and spiny. The flowers of this plant are arranged in whorls, they will form a paniculate inflorescence, they are initially purple in color and later turn blue with a white edge. The calyx of this plant turns out to be half as long as the corolla; it will be deeply five-parted with lanceolate pointed lobes. The length of the corolla can reach up to eighteen millimeters; such a corolla will be tubular-bell-shaped and shallowly five-lobed. There are only five stamens of comfrey; they are shorter than the corolla, while the pistil is endowed with a long thread-like style and a small stigma. The fruit of this plant is a fruit that splits into four shiny nuts when ripe, and its length will be about five millimeters.
Flowering of comfrey occurs in the period from May to August.
Description of the medicinal properties of comfrey
Comfrey is endowed with very valuable healing properties, and it is recommended to use the roots of this plant for medicinal purposes.
The presence of such valuable healing properties should be explained by the content of the alkaloid cynoglossin and the glucoalkaloid consolidine in this plant, as well as organic acids, steroidal saponins, iridoids, tannins, inulin, gums, resins, hydroxycinnamic acid, essential oil, polysaccharides and a fairly large amount of mucus.
It has been proven that preparations based on comfrey have the ability to increase tone and enhance contraction of the muscles of the intestines and uterus, and will also lower blood pressure and cause strong stimulation of breathing.
As for traditional medicine, here this plant has become very widespread both as an internal and external remedy. A mucous decoction and infusion based on the fresh roots of this plant is recommended to be used as a very effective emollient, weakly astringent, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing and hemostatic agent. Infusion and decoction of the roots of this plant have the ability to enhance the restoration of various tissues, reduce pain and more quickly heal bones when they are fractured. Such healing agents are very effective when used correctly.
