Hi i am a bit confused as to what comfrey i need to harvest, localy we have the cream coloured flowered one not the purple, what is the difference? If any one could help please
Bright Blessings
Suzie

Hi Suzie

Its hard to say without looking at the plant you have because Common Comfrey Symphytum officinale can have lilac/purple flowers and also creamy white ones. But growing in the UK we also have two other cream or white comfrey White Comfrey (Symphytum orientale) and Creeping Comfrey (Symphytum grandiflorum) both of which to my knowledge have no known medicinal uses. However in Hedgerow Medicine, Julie Bruton-Seal says that you can use all the comfreys growing in the British Isles externally, but hopefully someone in the know will be able to answer for definate?!

I've always been under the impression that only Common Comfrey Symphytum officinale had any medicinal properties.

Debs

thanks Debs i have also been reading the debate about comfrey posted earlier. I too have been on Susan Weeds website, I think the best thing to do is to order some rootstock of the officinale preferably purple flower to be on the safe side, as i want to plant some doen the allotment.
Thanks again
Suzie

I think Susun recommends uplandica not officinale for internal use. Didn't the Doubleday people in the UK use uplandica?

Just to say that I have the white-flowered officinalis obtained from Poyntzfield Herb Nursery many years ago. It hasn't spread prolifically, although a piece of root was dropped in the stream last September and is now happily growing in the water!

It's a fabulous plant and makes a wonderful oil and tincture. It is prone to mildew some years, but always comes back in the spring. One of the best things about it is watching the bees visiting the flowers!

Sarah

Kate and Sarah thanks for the input but Who are the double day people?
Suzie

Hi Suzie its the Henry Doubleday (HDRA) people, now better known as Garden Organic http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/. I think that the qualified people should handle the medicinal aspects of comfrey, its a minefield out there. From a gardening point of view, unless you want your garden taken over with comfrey, you need to plant the sterile Bocking 14 variety of Russian Comfrey which was introduced to the UK by Henry Doubleday himself....

"Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) wasn’t introduced into the UK until around 1910 by a Quaker named Henry Doubleday; as a result of his work Lawrence Hills founded the Henry Doubleday Research Association in 1954. So any references for the use of comfrey in Britain that you come across pre 19^th century refer to common comfrey and not Russian comfrey."

The above is taken from the article on Comfrey written for Grow You Own magazine in 2007 by myself.

Debs

Thanks so much Debs. I think Symphytum x uplandicum is the one that Susan Weed refers to and is apparently safer than officinale, i want to obtain some for the allotment for tincturing (for salves) and composting as apparently its great for the compost. I presume that uplandicum is of the same medicinal value as officinale.
Bright blessings Suzie x

Hi Suzie

I may be wrong, but I seem to remember a discussion on Henriette's forum which said that the medicinal qualities of russian comfrey were different from officinalis. Do you really mean you want to make tinctures from the leaves? Comfrey root tinctures should only be administered by a qualified medical herbalist in the UK.

A salve is normally made from a double infused oil by adding beeswax. A tincture is a fluid whereby the medicinal aspects are extracted by alcohol or vinegar and are usually taken internally as a medicine. A tincture can be used externally - I sometimes add them to oils and a base ointment or cream or dab them onto bites. If you add tinctures to oils and emusify it is called a cream.

Best wishes

Sarah

hi Sarah
yes a tincture from the leaves not the root, and yes i meant to say a cream or i could infuse the leaves in oil. Maybe do both but the main reason is to grow for the compost but if i have enough i would like to make up some external remedies.
Blessings Suzie