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What is the plant comfrey used for?
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is sometimes used on the skin to treat wounds and reduce inflammation from sprains and broken bones. Comfrey roots and leaves contain allantoin, a substance that helps new skin cells grow, along with other substances that reduce inflammation and keep skin healthy.
Are comfrey plants illegal?
The pyrrolizidine alkaloids in comfrey can cause severe liver damage, liver cancer, mutagenicity, and even death. [8,9] For this reason, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned the sale of oral comfrey products in the United States.
Where can you find comfrey plants?
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is a perennial flower that grows in clumps naturally along riverbanks and in grasslands.
Is comfrey safe to eat?
Today, eating or taking any form of comfrey by mouth isn’t recommended. It’s considered unsafe, due to the pyrrolizidine alkaloids that comfrey contains. These are dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer, severe liver damage, and even death when you consume them.
What can I do with comfrey?
7 Best Uses for Comfrey Vigorous comfrey plants regrow after greens are harvested for compost or mulch. Garlic is tucked in with a double mulch of chopped comfrey and rotted hay. A comfrey root poultice can speed healing of sprains and bruises. Use dried leaves to make comfrey tea for houseplants.
Is comfrey toxic to dogs?
But be warned, dogs should not eat or lick it, as it can be toxic to them and will cause gastrointestinal problems if ingested in large amounts. Although comfrey also contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, primarily on the root, which cause liver problems when ingested in large quantities.
Is comfrey good for your garden?
Comfrey is the organic gardener’s best friend. Its leaves are full of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – all nutrients needed by growing plants. Master the use of comfrey and you’ll never need to buy expensive fertiliser again.
Can I drink comfrey tea?
While you can make comfrey tea at home, health experts do not advise that you drink the tea. 2 For that reason, some fans of the herbal treatment make comfrey tea, allow it to cool, and apply it topically to the skin or to areas of the body where aches and pains are present.
How is comfrey invasive?
Between the self-seeding and root regrowth, comfrey can become invasive. There is a sterile species of comfrey, Symphytum x uplandicum ‘Bocking 14’, which eliminates the self-seeding problem in the garden. Comfrey is a very fast growing plant. During the growing season it produces huge amounts of leaves.
What is the difference between borage and comfrey?
Borage flowers are always blue while comfrey flowers bloom in white, pink and purple. The flowers have different shapes, as well, with comfrey flowers shaped like bells and borage flowers like stars. Borage also tends to be a bit more gangly than comfrey, which grows in tighter clumps.
How do you cook with comfrey?
Comfrey can be prepared as a starter (they make quite good fritters), soup, or as a side dish. (My mom makes a delicious comfrey marog -a traditional African side dish made with leafy greens, onions and tomatoes.) You can also add it to other veggies and to stews. It also makes a nutritious addition to veggie juices.
Is comfrey poisonous to animals?
The Merck Veterinary Manual lists comfrey as an especially risky herb because of its pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which have been linked to liver damage. The alkaloids are actually produced by the herb to fend off bugs, but the insecticide can be harmful to a dog.
Is comfrey good for tomatoes?
Comfrey has very deep roots, which means it extracts large quantities of nutrients from far below the soil’s surface, inaccessible to other plants. It’s especially rich in potassium, making it the ideal feed to promote flowers and fruits in a range of plants, including tomatoes.
Is comfrey good for potatoes?
On potatoes Comfrey has an almost perfect ratio of nitrogen, potash and phosphorous. In comparison with farmyard manure, Hills shows it has more nitrogen, twice as much potash, but less phosphorous. It is an ideal potato and tomato food.
How do I use comfrey in my garden?
To use on established plants, dilute 1 part comfrey fertilizer in 15 parts water. Use to water and to spray on your plants as a foliar feed. When feeding young plants whose roots could be damaged by strong fertilizer, you may want to dilute it further.
Is comfrey poisonous to chickens?
Comfrey has been deemed safe to handle and to use externally. Any comfrey that my hens have eaten they’ve shared with the whole flock—and they are eating commercial laying feed, too.
Do horses like comfrey?
The wide ranging actions of Comfrey make it one of the most useful for horses and their humans, especially for its ability to accelerate healing of fractures as well as bone, tendon and ligament damage and to promote cartilage repair in early arthritis and rheumatoid diseases.
Is comfrey toxic to cats?
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is sometimes used as an herbal medicine for people, but it can cause liver damage when given to cats.
