“The great Comfrey or consound, though it was official with us down to the middle of the eighteenth century, never had a very prominent place in professional practice; but our herbalists were loud in its praise and the country culler of simples held it almost infallible as a remedy for both external and internal wounds bruises, and ulcers… The old Edinburgh formula is the simplest and probably the best: Fresh Comfrey leaves and fresh plantain leaves, of each lb.ss.; bruise them and well squeeze out the juice, add to the dregs spring water lb.ij.; boil to half, and mix the strained liquor with the expressed juice; add an equal quantity of white sugar and boil to a syrup.”

Unknown Author, Chemist and Druggist Journal UK, 1921

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Cover art by John William Waterhouse

Comfrey or Symphytum officinale is also called knitbone, knitback, consound, blackwort, healing herb, salsify, wallwort, slippery root or gum plant. It’s called lus na gcnámh briste or meacan an chomparaí in Gaeilge and lus nan cnàmh briste or meacan dubh in Scots Gaelic. Its name comes from the Greek word symphyo which means ‘make grow together’ and it was renowned for healing fractures as well as relieving joint pain and inflammation. Not many insects rely on comfrey as a host plant but many pollinators love their exquisite spirally organized and bell shaped flowers. Comfrey has always had a very strong presence to me. The leaves themselves demand respect as they’re very large and well formed as well as fuzzy to the point of being somewhat uncomfortably prickly when you rub your fingers across them. 

Dioscorides mentioned it being used to treat wounds, inflammations and for its namesake to join flesh and bone together. In Ireland, comfrey was used for wounds, gout, inflammations¹ , sprains², burns³, boils⁴, sore feet5, setting broken bones⁶ , bleeding⁷ and lung or chest ailments⁸. It was also used readily on cattle and other farm animals such as pigs, ducks and turkeys to treat any number of ailments from fever, sore feet, inflamed udders, cough and cold, broken bones, sprains, digestive problems to simply being a generalized wellbeing tonic.^9,10,11 

Irish writer Patrick O’Sullivan recounts a wonderful recipe and ritual to heal horses when he said… “Among the folk remedies used for treating horses… Boiled turnips were also used in poultice form to reduce mild swellings in horses’ legs and fetlocks. The horse was taken to a man who was supposed to have a special charm, in this instance a man who had never seen his father. The owner of the horse was required to bring a pound of fresh butter with him. The man who had the charm sat on the horse’s back and held the butter in his hands while he pronounced certain secret words. When the ceremony was complete he was allowed to keep the butter.”

There are an astounding 270 references to comfrey in the Irish Folk Duchas and it was clearly a very heavily used and sacred plant. In the Irish book On Wounds (1352), comfrey is recommended to heal ulcers by taking “comfrey and flour of wheaten meal and honey and butter, mix and apply to the ulcer.” Comfrey was also cited as an Irish witch herb as late as the 1900’s where it was kept on hand, used and recommended as a styptic by these known wise women and men.¹² It was used for similar purposes throughout Scotland, Wales and England.¹³ 

Comfrey being a hardy and long lasting plant can still be seen along many old and isolated cottages in Ireland, a further testament to its once common use.¹⁴ In Wales, to promote the ‘union of bone’ you were instructed to combine comfrey, wine, pepper and honey and to drink it daily for nine days.¹⁵ Comfrey baths were very common in the Middle Ages and it was widely known as ‘one of nature’s greatest medicinal herbs.’ In addition to being made into poultices to heal wounds, sprains or fractures, it was pounded into a cast like material that retained its shape and used to physically set broken limbs. 

Comfrey is in the Boraginaceae family and native to Europe. Comfrey has large, oval and fuzzy leaves with white, pink to purple flowers that typically bloom sparingly throughout the summer and it may have been associated with Bealtaine or the Summer Solstice. It’s a perennial hardy in zones 3 through 9, grows up to 1 m or 3 ft. and does well in part shade with moist soil. Comfrey’s energy is cool and dry. The leaves are the usable portion and have a bitter flavor. It’s most commonly used as an oil, poultice or salve and ointment. 

It’s not recommended to take comfrey internally because of the high content of pyrrolizidine alkaloids which can cause liver toxicity in high amounts but tend to build up in our bodies easily. Furthermore, it’s not recommended to use comfrey on open wounds due to the fact that these compounds could be absorbed through the wound. It’s best to use older and dried leaves because new leaves and the roots contain the highest levels of dangerous alkaloids. Comfrey is also incredibly prolific and hardy, growing back from mere slivers of root pieces so you may want to take care where you plant it. 

Benefits 

analgesic, anti-inflammatory, astringent, demulcent, emollient, hemostatic, radiation preventative, skin tonic, vulnerary

Recipe

Comfrey and Peppermint Salve 

Ingredients: 2 tbsp. dried comfrey leaves, 2 tbsp. olive oil, 2 tbsp. coconut oil, 1/8 tsp. vitamin E oil, 5 to 10 drops peppermint essential oil, 1 tbsp. beeswax

Instructions: Add herbs and oil to a mason jar. Seal and let sit for 6 to 8 weeks in a dark location, shaking once daily. Add 1/8 tsp vitamin E oil and the peppermint essential oil to the mixture. Melt the beeswax and stir in the oil. Pour the liquid into a jar or tin and let harden before use. Not intended for children.

References

1. K’ Eogh, John, Botanologia Universalis Hibernica, or An Irish Herbal, Cork, 1735, edited by Michael Scott, 1986, pg. 50.
2. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0528, Page 101
3. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0213, Page 072
4. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0130, Page 429
5. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0155, Page 181
6. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0248, Page 105
7. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0764, Page 437
8. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0625, Page 021
9. Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0491, Page 148
10.  Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0214, Page 045
11.  Irish Folk Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0198, Page 516
12. Scallan, Christine, Irish Herbal Cures, 1994 pg. 36.
13. Allen, David and Hatfield, Gabrielle, Medicinal Plants in Folk Tradition: An Ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland,  2004, pg. 356.
14. Wood-Martin, W.G., Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland, Longmans Green and Co., 1902, pg. 177. 
15. Myddvai, Meddygon, Pughe, John and Williams, John, The Physicians of Myddvai, Wales, 1861.

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