Real comfrey

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Real comfrey
Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale)

Common comfrey ( Symphytum officinale )

Systematics
Euasterids I
Family : Boraginaceae (Boraginaceae)
Subfamily : Boraginoideae
Tribe : Boragineae
Genre : Comfrey ( Symphytum )
Type : Real comfrey
Scientific name
Symphytum officinale
L.

The Real comfrey ( Symphytum officinale ), also Common comfrey , comfrey , medicinal comfrey , comfrey , bees herb , rabbits leaves , milk root , harmful Medicinal root , narrow root , comfrey , comfrey , Komfrei or Wundallheil called, is a plant belonging to the genus comfrey ( Symphytum ) in the family of Borage family belongs (Boraginaceae). It is used and grown as a medicinal plant .

description

illustration
Stems with bristle hairs
Hairy underside of the leaf

Appearance, "rhizome" and leaves

The real comfrey grows as a deciduous, perennial herbaceous plant and reaches stature heights of usually 30 to 60 centimeters, rarely up to 1 meter. Often several plants stand together. The "rhizome" consists of squat, purple-brown main roots that reach a length of up to 50 centimeters. Stems and leaves are stiff, hairy with bristles or almost bare in the subspecies Swamp Beilwell ( Symphytum officinale subsp. Uliginosum ). The upright to ascending, branched stem has long, fairly straight, white bristly hairs ( trichomes ).

The wechselstängig arranged on the stem leaves are large. Depending on the subspecies, the leaf base runs down more or less clearly with 2 to 3 mm wide wings on the stem. The lowest leaves, 30 to 60 centimeters long and 10 to 20 centimeters wide, have long stalks and a tongue-shaped, lanceolate to egg-shaped leaf blade with a pointed upper end. The middle and upper leaves are sessile and have a smaller leaf blade that is ovoid to lanceolate with a length of up to 25 centimeters.

Inflorescence with purple to purple flowers
Inflorescence with yellowish white flowers
Flower in detail: stamens and throat scales
Individual Klausen at maturity

Inflorescence, flower and fruit

The flowering period extends from May to September or October, depending on the location. Many flowers are grouped in leafy, floriferous double coils . The 2 to 6 millimeter long flower stalks are nodding.

The hermaphroditic flowers are radial symmetry and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The five sepals up to 7 millimeters long are fused up to a quarter of their length and the sepals are lanceolate with a pointed upper end. The mostly light purple, dirty red-violet, violet, but also yellowish-white, usually 1.4 to 1.5 (1 to 2) centimeter long petals are fused and end in triangular corolla lobes with bent-back tips. The crown has relatively long pharyngeal scales with a length of about 4 mm. There is only one circle with five stamens ; they are fused with the corolla tube and do not protrude beyond the crown. The 3 millimeter long stamens are almost as wide in the lower area as the approximately 3.5 millimeter long anthers. The ovary of most flowers is sterile.

Klaus fruits are seldom formed, these disintegrate into smooth, shiny, black partial fruits (Klausen), which are obliquely egg-shaped with a length of 3 to 4 millimeters.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24, 26, 36, 40, 48 or 54.

ecology

The common comfrey is a perennial half rosette plant. The beet-shaped rhizome contains u as reserve substance. a. Inulin . The plant has roots up to 1.8 meters deep. A Vegetative propagation occurs by branching of the rhizome and by separated parts.

The flowers are homogamous "bluebells with scattering device". Mouth scales close the litter cone so that the nectar is only accessible to long- probed species of bees , such as bumblebees , with a proboscis length of over 11 millimeters. The visitors cling to the edge of the crown, which is equipped with conspicuous papillae, and bring their proboscis to the opening that remains at the exit of the stylus. The floury pollen trickles down on them. Short-nosed species, such as bumblebees , pierce the corolla tube from the side to get to the nectar. Spontaneous self-pollination also seems to be possible.

In the more or less pendulous calyx, which is enlarged after the anthesis , one to two, rarely up to four black, shiny claws develop , which have an elaiosome at their base and are later semi-hollow. There is gravity spreading through falling coves, spreading ants and swimming through an air bubble in the cave cave.

Habitus in the habitat
Marsh comfrey ( Symphytum officinale subsp. Uliginosum )

Occurrence

The wide distribution area of the common comfrey in Eurasia stretches in west-east direction from Spain to west Siberia and China and in north-south direction from the United Kingdom to Italy and Romania . Comfrey is rare in southern Europe and often only naturalized in the north. He can be found in all federal states of Austria .

The real comfrey indicates nitrogenous soils . The preferred location is sunny to partially shaded, moist, nutrient-rich soils, especially clay soils, ditches or damp roadsides, as well as moist meadows, banks, alluvial forests and moorland meadows up to an altitude of 1000 meters. It thrives in societies of the Molinietalia order, but also occurs in moist arrhentheretes and in societies of the Senecion fluviatilis, Aegopodion or Alno-Ulmion associations.

Systematics

The first publication of Symphytum officinale was made in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum , 1, S. 136th

From officinale Symphytum L. (Syn .: Symphytum Bohemicum F.W.Schmidt , Symphytum officinale subsp. Bohemicum (FWSchmidt) Čelak. ) There are at least two subspecies:

  • Symphytum officinale L. subsp. officinale : It occurs from Europe to the Caucasus and Siberia. In the Allgäu Alps, it rises to an altitude of 1100 meters.
  • Marsh comfrey ( Symphytum officinale subsp. Uliginosum (A.Kern.) Nyman , Syn .: Symphytum uliginosum A.Kern. , Symphytum tanaicense Steven ): The distribution area includes Austria. Hungary, Ukraine and Romania. The stems and leaves are almost bare. The leaf base runs only a little down the stem. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 40.

There are hybrids with other species, for example: feed comfrey ( Symphytum × uplandicum Nyman ) (= Symphytum asperum × Symphytum officinale , Syn .: Symphytum peregrinum auct.). It is sometimes grown.

ingredients

The ingredients include allantoin as an important ingredient , as well as mucilage and tannins , asparagine , alkaloids , essential oil , flavonoids , resin and silicic acid , pyrrolizidine alkaloids .

use

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Use in the kitchen

The fresh comfrey leaves have a very high protein content ; these proteins are of very high biological quality and their nutritional value can be compared with animal protein. The alkaloids have been proven to be carcinogenic in animal experiments; However, if consumed occasionally in appropriate quantities, there is no increased risk, as studies on humans and animals have shown.

In central Switzerland, the leaves are baked in batter. The rough leaves of the comfrey are particularly suitable for this. Its large leaves can also be used for wrapping.

Older parts of plants used to be added to tobacco in parts of Austria.

Use in herbal medicine

In herbal medicine , the dried roots ( Symphyti radix ), but also the herb ( Symphyti herba ) and the leaves ( Symphyti folium ) of the comfrey are used. They contain mucilage , allantoin , tannins , rosemary acid , choline and, depending on growing region and variety, traces of pyrrolizidine .

Comfrey has been used for the treatment of wounds since ancient times, whereby a promotion of wound granulation was to be expected, and even for bone fractures and therefore had the Latin name consolida (maior) (to consolidare : to fix, to grow) as a loan translation from the Greek symphyestai .

Comfrey is now approved as a medicinal plant externally for painful muscle and joint complaints, bruises, strains, sprains and to promote local blood circulation.

When used externally, the harmful alkaloids are hardly absorbed, so that under these conditions they can generally be used for four to six weeks a year. Internal use has been abandoned because of the content of liver-damaging and possibly carcinogenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. There are documented cases of hepatic vein occlusion after taking comfrey products. a. from the USA, the UK and Germany.

Hybrids such as Symphytum × uplandicum Nyman var. Harras, which are largely free of harmful alkaloids, play a role in finished medicinal products .

cultivation

The real comfrey is propagated vegetatively for cultivation . The lifespan of a plant is given as around 20 years. Comfrey is very undemanding and drives out again every year even without care and adverse treatment. However, it is often time-consuming to remove the plant again. It is dug out with as many roots as possible (50 cm and more). If the soil is warm and dry, the remaining parts of the roots die off more easily. Sterile varieties like Bocking 14 only spread vegetatively, others also via the seeds. If you want to prevent this, you can cut the plant off before the seeds ripen.

Comfrey grows quickly; four harvests a year at a height of 60 cm are not uncommon. It thrives particularly well in nitrogenous, e.g. B. in fertilized or mulched soil. He has big leaves. In addition to the medical ingredients mentioned, comfrey also contains plenty of nitrogen, the C / N ratio is 10: 1. In addition, all parts of the plant have a high potassium content , which is built up by the deep roots.

Because of these properties, it is well suited as a mulch material or for preparing plant manure. If comfrey is not cut off before flowering, it will also provide food for bumblebees.

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literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Symphytum officinale L. sl, Medicinal Comfrey. In: FloraWeb.de.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Gelin Zhu, Harald Riedl, Rudolf V. Kamelin: Boraginaceae. In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven (Ed.): Flora of China . Volume 16: Gentianaceae through Boraginaceae . Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 1995, ISBN 0-915279-33-9 , pp. 359 (English). Symphytum officinale online with the same text.
  3. ^ A b c Siegmund Seybold : Flora of Germany and neighboring countries. A book for identifying vascular plants that grow wild and often cultivated . Founded by Otto Schmeil , Jost Fitschen . 93rd completely revised and expanded edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2006, ISBN 3-494-01413-2 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  787-788 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Symphytum officinale in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
  6. ^ A b c Manfred A. Fischer, Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 3rd, improved edition. Province of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 695 .
  7. ↑ Symphytum officinale at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  8. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 2, IHW, Eching 2004, ISBN 3-930167-61-1 , p. 374.
  9. ↑ Christiane Staiger: Comfrey - a modern medicinal plant . Ed .: Journal for Phytotherapy. tape 26 , 2005, pp. 169-173 , doi : 10.1055 / s-002-4322 .
  10. ↑ a b c Heinz Schilcher : Guide to Phytotherapy. Urban & Fischer, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-437-55348-6 , p. 54.
  11. ^ Rudolf Fritz Weiss : Textbook of Phytotherapy. 5th edition. Stuttgart 1982, p. 370.
  12. ↑ Ortolf von Baierland : Ortolf von Baierland's pharmacopoeia based on the oldest manuscript (14th century) (Cologne City Archives, W 4 ° 23 *). Ed. By James Follan, Stuttgart 1963 (= publications of the International Society for the History of Pharmacy . New Series, 23), Chapter 164
  13. ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. Birkhäuser, Basel / Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-7643-0755-2 , p. 123.
  14. ↑ Barbara Fehringer. The “Speyer Herbal Book” with Hildegard von Bingen's medicinal plants. A study of the Middle High German Physica reception with a critical edition of the text. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1994 (= Würzburg medical historical research, supplement 2), ISBN 3-88479-771-9 , p. 100 ("Consolida mayor means beinwelle or walwurtz")
  15. ↑ Real comfrey. in the medicinal plant lexicon of the Phytopharmaka cooperation .
  16. ↑ Helmut Wiedenfeld: Toxicity of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids - a Serious Health Problem.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.musbed.com   In: Journal of Marmara University Institute of Health Sciences. Volume 1, Issue 2, 2011, pp. 79-87.
  17. ^ Mathias Schmidt: Comfrey: high-performance variety, particularly safe. PTA forum, edition 12/2011.
  18. ↑ Symphytum officinale ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Kirman Contemporary, accessed 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kirmandesign.com
  19. ↑ The Mulch Book: practice of land cover in the garden / Dettmer Grünefeld, 2010, ISBN 978-3-89566-218-8 .

Web links

Commons : Echter Beinwell ( Symphytum officinale )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Real comfrey  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations