Talk:Symphytum

Merger proposal
I propose that Comfrey be merged into Symphytum. Both articles refer to the same group of plants. JRS (talk) 15:50, 1 July 2018 (UTC)
 * I agree with merging into Symphytum. Cynoglossum virginianum is the only other plant I can think of sometimes known as comfrey. Are there others? –Hyperik ⌜talk⌟ 18:59, 31 October 2018 (UTC)

nutrients and minerals
"nutrients and minerals are transported back to the roots"

The nutrients ARE minerals. they are some gooooood shit nigga! They certainly aren't cheese sandwiches :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.68.94.86 (talk) 20:48, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Genus or species
Is this article about the genus Symphytum or about the species Symphytum officinale? It makes a difference for interwiki. Other wikipedia tend to have seperate articles for the species and the genus. Taka 06:56, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I would vote to have this be a species page, and move the generic info to Symphytum. The word "comfrey" by itself is used for S. officinale.  The other species are always qualified.  This was the same logic I used for [onion]] -- WormRunner 17:51, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I will agree with any solution, English names of organisms are not my strongest point of knowledge. It would be nice to seperate the genus from the species. Taka 07:00, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Addition: concerning interwiki's this article is now mainly considered to be about the genus. Also the taxobox points at an article about the genus. Taka 07:01, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Do the Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids Break Down In Air?
When using confrey as compost do the Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids break down in air or might other plants absorb them cumulatively?24.83.178.11 11:45, 18 April 2007 (UTC)BeeCier
 * There would proably a certain amount broken down in the air and in the soil.(ethanbrogden)

WikiProject Food and drink Tagging
This article talk page was automatically added with WikiProject Food and drink banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here. If you have concerns, please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 11:34, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I think I might remove this article from WikiProject Food and drink. I cant seem to find a good reason for it to be under there. Does anyone have any problems with that? Sdegan (talk) 18:51, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

PA Free Comfrey
This article needs information about the FACT that there are companies preparing Comfrey extracts without the risk of PAs. Please read this article: http://herb-pharm.com/index.php?action=viewpharmersalmanacdetail&contentId=67 or this one: http://www.onechristianministry.com/healthy-life-106.html


 * You could consider incorporating such information, and use these as a reference (see the reliable sources guideline and the citation guideline). Thanks.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 15:23, 12 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I removed the line in the Medicinal Uses about Comfrey being manufactured with PAs removed. The FDA has not approved such products for sale, and the citations you mentioned either didn't work anymore, or were of poor quality. Can you find some better ones? As a Pharmacist, I've tried to consult my drug vendors and suppliers (Cardinal Health, Bergen and McKesson) but none of these say the product you mention exists. They do, however, mention the existence of Comfrey extracts as single compounds, such as pure Allantoin. I think until we can show that there is actually a legal Comfrey product that lacks heptatoxic compounds, we should just leave it out of the article. Sdegan (talk) 18:37, 5 January 2012 (UTC)


 * This is nonesense -- pure, organic comfrey is perfectly safe and has been used for millenia. The carcinogens that have been (allegedly) detected have not, I would guarantee, been found in organic, pesticide-, insecticide- and artificial-fertiliser-FREE plants.  It's this pollution that contributes the carcinogens, not the plant, as comfrey, like any plant, takes it's constituents from it's environment.  Get clean comfrey, use it in the correct dosages, and it is simply not harmful.  This is not "personal research", it's the finding of herbalists and "witches" since time immemorial -- it's the finding of very long term EXPERIENCE.  The testing procedures used in western so-called science have an inherant, inescapable flaw -- giving pure anything to a rat, in the massive dosages used in western "science", artificially inflates results and does not allow for the mechanisms of REAL metabolism over time.  I.E., rape-seed oil:  western so-called science has determined that this is toxic, but half the world consumes it on a daily basis with no reported toxicity whatsoever;  just as that same half of the world consumes naturally-derived monosodium glutamate (MSG) on a regular, daily basis.  And the chemist writing in should be able to tell you all of a very popular western patented medicine whose primary ingredient is ... comfrey ... if he's honest. For western science is not always honest, for example when it tells us that patented, packaged, supermarket Aspirin is perfectly safe, but willow-bark harvested from your own garden and made into a tea is not -- that report told me everything I need to know about the integrity of western medicine ... or lack of same.  And like Willow bark, comfrey from your garden can't be patented, packaged, labelled nor make anyone a fortune -- that is, I believe, far more the source of this myth. from The Wychwood Witch  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.181.124.1 (talk) 01:29, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

"Wikipedia is not a how to guide"
I know there's probably one of those allcaps quick links to this policy, but who cares. Much of this article, while interesting, is a "how to" guide for growing and using this plant, rather than being an encyclopedic article about it. Just saying, is all... Huw Powell (talk) 02:21, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Vitamin B12
Comfrey is reported in various places to be a vegetable source of B12. Here is one source, and it's mentioned in passing here, too. This page is so enthusiastic about it as to make me slightly suspicious. Scanning the abstracts in a Google Scholar search suggests that opinion is still divided on this. It ought to be mentioned in the article, anyway - if it's been conclusively disproven as a B12 source, that should be covered; if not, the controversy ought to be covered... --Oolong (talk) 17:42, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I did experiments in B12 vitamin deficiency on myself. Comfrey is rich in B12. Farm animals also love it. I do not think they would eat it if it harmed them. Milk and eggs are the only other source of B12 I know, for noncarnivores. One may ask, why is in the monastic herbal if it useless. The species designation "officinale" means Linnaeus named it so for that reason. My Flatley (talk) 20:07, 22 November 2018 (UTC)

Images by Jrtayloriv addition discussion
I reverted the addition of the images because I felt they didn't belong in the article, not only was they added larger than policy (per MOS), they're also not necessary in the general Comfrey article I contend. They're labeled as Symphytum officinale which we have a page for already which already has foliage and flower images. Diagnostic close up images of the plant probably isn't necessary for the general non-taxonomic page Comfrey imho. — raeky  t  16:12, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Herbalpedia
This page needs a link to other herbal pages, in fact a navbar to get around useful herbs would be goodEthnopunk (talk) 20:47, 12 May 2014 (UTC)