E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of BC

Symphytum asperum Lepechin
rough comfrey (prickly comfrey)
Boraginaceae (Borage family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

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General:
Perennial herb from a thick taproot; stems branched, not winged, 0.3-1.2 m tall; stem and inflorescence with coarse, spreading, bristly hairs.

Leaves:
Basal leaves stalked, large, the blades elliptic to egg-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped, heart-shaped or rounded at the base, 15-20 cm long and 5-10 cm wide; stem leaves ample, gradually becoming smaller and shorter-stalked upward, with long-tapering, pointed tips, with coarse bristly hairs on both surfaces, entire, alternate.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of several to many small, coiled, bractless clusters; corollas blue (pink in bud), tubular bell-shaped, 1-1.5 cm long; petals fused at base into a tube that flares at top to bell-shaped limb (longer than tube) and 5 lobes, the lobe tips erect, the throat with 5 narrow, hairy bulges; calyx teeth blunt-tipped.

Fruits:
Nutlets 4, clustered together, curved inward, granular, finely wrinkled.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecological Framework for Symphytum asperum

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information	Value / Class
Site Information	Avg	Min	Max
Elevation (metres)	570	570	570
Slope Gradient (%)	30	30	30
Aspect (degrees) [0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]	245	246	246
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric]	3	3	3
Modal Nutrient Regime Class	C
# of field plots species was recorded in:	1
Modal BEC Zone Class	BWBS
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in	BWBS(1)
Source: Klinkenberg 2013

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Exotic	SNA	Exotic	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer.

1. Stems not winged; corolla lobes erect.....................S. asperum

1. Stems winged from ridges that run down the stem from the leaf base; corolla lobes recurved at tip

2. Corollas cream, sometimes purplish; nutlets smooth, shining.....................S. officinale

2. Corollas blue or purplish-blue; nutlets wrinkled, more or less dull....................S. x uplandicum

Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Volume 2 (Douglas et al. 1998).

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