Symphytum officinale L.
common comfrey
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
common comfrey
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a thick, branched taproot; stems branched, winged from ridges that run down from the leaf bases, 0.5-1.5 m tall; stem and inflorescence with spreading and downward-curving, conical, bristly hairs.
Leaves:
Basal leaves stalked, large, the blades egg-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped to oblong, 15-30 cm long and 7-12 cm wide; stem leaves ample, oblong-lanceolate, with long-tapering, pointed tips, gradually becoming smaller and shorter-stalked upwards, spreading-hairy, entire, alternate.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of several to many small, coiled, drooping, bractless clusters; corollas cream or dull blue to purplish, 1.5-1.8 cm long; petals fused at base into a tube that flares at top to a bell-shaped limb (longer than tube) and 5 lobes with recurved tips, the throat with 5 narrow hairy bulges; calyx teeth sharp-tipped.
Fruits:
Nutlets 4, clustered together, curved inward, smooth, shining.
Illustration
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
Habitat and Range
Wet to mesic roadsides and waste places in the lowland, steppe and lower montane zones; rare in S BC; introduced from Europe.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Symphytum officinale subsp. uliginosum auct. non (Kern.) Nyman [misapplied]
Symphytum uliginosum auct. non Kern. [misapplied]
Taxonomic Keys
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). |