Symphytum

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the borage family Boraginaceae}}

{{About|the genus of plants known as comfrey|the place|Comfrey, Minnesota}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image=Symphytum caucasicum - Curtis.jpg

|image_caption=Symphytum caucasicum

|taxon=Symphytum

|authority= Tourn. ex L. (1753)

|type_species=Symphytum officinale

|type_species_authority=L.

|subdivision_ranks=Species

|subdivision=27; see text

|subdivision_ref = [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30124711-2 Symphytum Tourn. ex L.] Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 31 July 2024.

|synonyms =

Consolida {{small|Riv. ex Ruppius (1745), not validly publ.}}
Procopiania {{small|Guşul. (1928)}}
× Procopiphytum {{small|Pawł. (1971)}}

|synonyms_ref =

}}

Symphytum is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae, known by the common name comfrey (pronounced {{IPAc-en|"|k|V|m|f|r|i}}, from the Latin confervere to 'heal' or literally to 'boil together', referring to uses in ancient traditional medicine).

Symphytum is native to northern temperate regions of Asia and North America, with a wide introduced distribution on both continents. There are 59 recognized species.{{cite web|publisher=The World Flora Online|date=18 July 2023|title= Symphytum L.|url= http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000037231|access-date=15 June 2024}} Some species and hybrids, particularly S. officinale, Symphytum grandiflorum, and S. × uplandicum, are used in gardening and herbal medicine. Species in the genus Symphytum are different from Andersonglossum virginianum, known as wild comfrey, which is another member of the borage family.{{PLANTS |id=CYVI |taxon=Cynoglossum virginianum |access-date=2018-11-20}}

Species

27 species are accepted.

Symphytum aintabicum {{small|Hub.-Mor. & Wickens}}
Symphytum anatolicum {{small|Boiss.}}
Symphytum asperum {{small|Lepech.}} – prickly comfrey, rough comfrey
Symphytum × bicknellii {{small|Buckn.}}
Symphytum bornmuelleri {{small|Buckn.}}
Symphytum brachycalyx {{small|Boiss.}} – Palestine comfrey
Symphytum bulbosum – bulbous comfrey
Symphytum carpaticum {{small|Yu.M.Frolov}}
Symphytum caucasicum – Caucasian comfrey
Symphytum circinale {{small|Runemark}}
Symphytum cordatum {{small|Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd.}}
Symphytum creticum {{small|(Willd.) Runemark}}
Symphytum davisii {{small|Wickens}}
Symphytum × ferrariense {{small|C.Massal.}}
Symphytum grandiflorum {{small|DC.}} – creeping comfrey
Symphytum gussonei {{small|F.W.Schultz}}
Symphytum hajastanum {{small|Gvin.}}
Symphytum ibiricum {{small|Steven}} – Iberian comfrey{{cite web |title=Symphytum ibericum |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=1894 |publisher=rhs.org.uk |access-date=23 April 2017}}
Symphytum kurdicum {{small|Boiss. & Hausskn.}}
Symphytum longisetum {{small|Hub.-Mor. & Wickens}}
Symphytum × mosquense {{small|S.R.Majorov & D.D.Sokoloff}}
Symphytum officinale {{small|L.}} – comfrey
Symphytum orientale {{small|L.}} – white comfrey
Symphytum ottomanum {{small|Friv.}}
Symphytum podcumicum {{small|Yu.M.Frolov}}
Symphytum pseudobulbosum {{small|Azn.}}
Symphytum savvalense {{small|Kurtto}}
Symphytum sylvaticum {{small|Boiss.}}
Symphytum tauricum {{small|Willd.}} – Crimean comfrey
Symphytum tuberosum {{small|L.}} – tuberous comfrey
Symphytum × ullepitschii {{small|Wettst.}}
Symphytum × uplandicum {{small|Nyman}} (S. asperum × S. officinale, synonym: S. peregrinum) – Russian comfrey, healing herb, blackwort, bruisewort, wallwort, gum plant

File:Symphytum uplandicum x Bocking 14.jpg

File:Russian comfrey close 800.jpg

Symphytum × wettsteinii {{small|Sennholz}}

Cultivation

The Russian comfrey 'Bocking 14' cultivar was developed during the 1950s by Lawrence D. Hills, the founder of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (the organic gardening organization itself named after Henry Doubleday, who first introduced Russian comfrey into Britain in the nineteenth century) following trials at Bocking, Essex.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

=Propagation=

Bocking 14 is sterile, and therefore will not set seed (one of its advantages over other cultivars as it will not spread out of control); thus, it is propagated from root cuttings. The gardener can produce "offsets" from mature, strongly growing plants by driving a spade horizontally through the leaf clumps about {{cvt|7|cm}} below the soil surface. This removes the crown, which can then be split into pieces. The original plant will quickly recover, and each piece can be replanted with the growing points just below the soil surface, and will quickly grow into new plants. Offsets can also be purchased by mail order from specialist nurseries in order to initially build up a stock of plants.{{cite web |vauthors=Teynor TM, Putnam DH, Doll JD, Kelling KA, Oelke EA, Undersander DJ, Oplinger ES|title=Comfrey |url=https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/comfrey.html |work=Alternative Field Crops Manual |publisher=University of Wisconsin, Extension, Cooperative-Extension|date=February 1992 |access-date=25 March 2014}}

Phytochemistry, folk medicine, and toxicity

Folk medicine names for comfrey include knitbone, boneset, and the derivation of its Latin name Symphytum (from the Greek symphytis, meaning growing together of bones, and phyton, a plant{{Cite book |last1=Hyam |first1=R. |last2=Pankhurst |first2=R.J. |year=1995 |title=Plants and their names : a concise dictionary |publication-place=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-866189-4 |name-list-style=amp |page=486}}{{source needed|reason=Again, this etymological explanation is incorrect. There is a word σύμφυσις (growing together, natural junction, esp. of the bones) and there is a word σύμφυτος/ον (e.g. 'grown together'), but not *σύμφυτις. And *σύμφυτις and φυτόν would yield 'symphytiphyton'. And σύμφυτον is the ancient Greek naam for this plant. Please, use a reliable source.|date=April 2025}}, referring to its ancient uses. Similarly, the common French name is {{Lang|fr|consoude}}, meaning to weld together. The tradition in different cultures and languages suggest a common belief in its usefulness for mending bones.

Comfrey contains mixed phytochemicals in varying amounts, including allantoin, mucilage, saponins, tannins, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and inulin, among others.{{cite web |title=Comfrey |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/comfrey.html |publisher=Drugs.com |access-date=22 May 2018 |date=17 July 2017}} Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are responsible for comfrey's liver toxicity,{{cite journal |last1=Mei |first1=Nan |last2=Guo |first2=Lei |last3=Fu |first3=Peter P. |last4=Fuscoe |first4=James C. |last5=Luan |first5=Yang |last6=Chen |first6=Tao |title=Metabolism, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity of Comfrey |journal=Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part B: Critical Reviews |date=October 2010 |volume=13 |issue=7–8 |pages=509–526 |doi=10.1080/10937404.2010.509013 |pmid=21170807 |pmc=5894094|bibcode=2010JTEHB..13..509M }} which is associated with consuming this plant or its extracts. In modern herbalism, comfrey is most commonly used topically.{{cite journal |last1=Grant |first1=G |last2=Nolan |first2=M |last3=Ellis |first3=N |title=A reappraisal of the Malaise Inventory. |journal=Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology |date=July 1990 |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=170–8 |doi=10.1007/BF00782957 |pmid=2399473 |pmc=2399473}}{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Lucinda G. |title=Herbal Medicinals: Selected Clinical Considerations Focusing on Known or Potential Drug-Herb Interactions |journal=Archives of Internal Medicine |date=9 November 1998 |volume=158 |issue=20 |pages=2200–2211 |doi=10.1001/archinte.158.20.2200 |pmid=9818800 |doi-access=}}

In 2001, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a ban of comfrey products marketed for internal use, and a warning label for those intended for external use.{{cite web |url=https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/SafetyAlertsAdvisories/ucm111219.htm |archive-url=http://wayback.archive-it.org/7993/20171114115012/https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/SafetyAlertsAdvisories/ucm111219.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-11-14 |title=FDA/CFSAN – FDA Advises Dietary Supplement Manufacturers to Remove Comfrey Products From the Market (archived copy) |website=Food and Drug Administration |access-date=2023-06-12}} Use of comfrey is particularly discouraged during pregnancy and lactation, in infants, and in people with liver, kidney, or vascular diseases.{{cite journal |last1=Yeong |first1=Mee Ling |last2=Swinburn |first2=Boyd |last3=Kennedy |first3=Mark |last4=Nicholson |first4=Gordon |title=Hepatic veno-occlusive disease associated with comfrey ingestion |journal=Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology |date=March 1990 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=211–214 |doi=10.1111/j.1440-1746.1990.tb01827.x |pmid=2103401 |s2cid=42511497}}

References

Category:Boraginaceae genera

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus