The plant is recognizable by its broad green leaves covered with a light fuzz, usually around the size of an adult’s palm and often significantly larger, and its purple to white bell-shaped flowers which grow in a cluster off the main shoot. Some people with sensitive skin may experience a mild skin irritation after handling the leaves, so gloves are recommended when harvesting.

Comfrey has a long history of being used as a medicine. Topically, in salves and ointments, comfrey works well to treat cuts, burns, bruises, insect bites, and skin ulcerations, and fresh leaves can be applied to sprains, broken bones, bruises, varicose veins, and many other injuries. Comfrey’s healing properties are generally linked to a compound it contains, called allantoin, which speeds up cell production, both internally and externally.

However, the herb is not without its controversy. In 2003, Health Canada banned the sale of comfrey, and products containing comfrey, due to the presence of pyrrolizidines (specifically one alkaloid called echimidine) which can cause liver damage when taken internally. While it remains illegal to sell it as an extract or in a cream, it is still legal to sell plants and seeds and to grow for personal use. It is worth looking further into the ban, as the former regulating body (Marketed Health Products Directorate) quickly implemented the ban just before the current regulating body (the Natural Health Products Directorate) took over, and the process was questionable.

Many organic gardeners use comfrey as a companion plant and/or fertilizer. Its main tap root penetrates very deep into the earth and draws many minerals closer to the surface where other garden plants and vegetables can access them. The comfrey leaves themselves are very rich in nitrogen and can add a lot of nutrition to compost. Many gardeners also make concentrated fertilizer teas from the leaves, which can be diluted and applied to gardens.

In order to propagate comfrey, seeds can be planted, or sets can be split using a shovel or spade. Simply plunge the shovel down through the middle of the set and remove the half and plant in the new location. Plants recover and rejuvenate themselves within a few weeks. It is important to know that once established, comfrey is very difficult to remove from the garden – even the smallest piece of root left in the ground will form into a new plant.

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This article was written by by Andrew S. Brown of Island Times Magazine.