Symphytum tuberosum
Node - Comfrey ( Symphytum tuberosum)
The node - Comfrey ( Symphytum tuberosum), rare Gnarled called comfrey, is a species of the genus Comfrey ( Symphytum ) within the family of Boraginaceae ( Boraginaceae ). Other common names are tuberous comfrey and Bulbous Comfrey, but which are also used as a term for the closely related species Symphytum bulbosum. The node - Comfrey is similar with its pale yellow flowers the hellblütigen forms of Real comfrey, but is considerably smaller and scarcely branched.
Description
The node - Comfrey grows as a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches the stature heights of 20 to 30 centimeters. As Überdauerungsorgan a little branched bulbous rhizome is formed. The stem hardly branches. The aboveground plant parts are hairy rough. The lower leaves are ovate and narrowing into a petiole; the upper are sessile and half, narrowly decurrent.
The flowering period extends from April to May Most six to ten flowers are borne in a double winding. From the otherwise very similar tuber comfrey ( Symphytum bulbosum ), the node - Comfrey differs mainly by the larger flowers. The yellowish- white flowers are funnel-shaped Roehrig and have five corolla lobes curl back on. The corolla lobes are 15 to 20 millimeters long when node comfrey, the tubers Comfrey only 7 to 11 millimeters, and they project unlike the tuberous comfrey Schlund shed.
The partial fruits are more or less rough and reticulate - rugose.
Use
In medicine, the node Comfrey is similar to many other comfrey species (see True Comfrey ) is used.
The rhizome is starchy, it was ground in times of emergency and mixed bread dough. If you roast the rhizome until it is brown, and then grinding, the powder can replace coffee; it has a softness in the taste, which is not found in real coffee.
Occasionally one uses the node - comfrey as a ground cover in gardens as an ornamental plant.
Occurrence
The node - Comfrey is widely used in Western, Central and Southern Europe. To the north it reaches the British Isles, to the east Ukraine and south-east Turkey. By garden refugees it has naturalized in parts of the United States. In Germany, the node Comfrey grows mainly in the central and southern part of Bavaria east of the Lech, next in northern Germany on the Elbe and Oder. As a location he prefers shady to semi- shady places in nutrient-rich deciduous and mixed forests. In Austria it is absent only in the province of Vorarlberg.
System
The specific epithet tuberosum derived from the partially bulbous " root stock ", meaning the rhizome.
There are at least two known sub-species:
- Symphytum tuberosum subsp. angustifolium ( Kern. ) Nyman ( Syn: Symphytum nodosum cord, S. tuberosum subsp nodosum ( Schur ) Soó, p leonhardtianum Pugsley. )
- Symphytum tuberosum subsp. tuberosum ( Syn: .. Symphytum mediterraneum WDJKoch, S. tuberosum subsp mediterraneum ( WDJKoch ) P.Fourn, p minus Bubani nom illeg. . )