Symphytum

Herzblättriger comfrey ( Symphytum cordatum )

Comfrey ( Symphytum ), formerly also called comfrey ( with respect to the heal [" Wallen " ] of fractures and wounds) or comfrey is a plant genus that belongs to the family of Boraginaceae ( Boraginaceae ). The English common name is " Comfrey ". About 40 species are native to Europe, North Africa and the western and central Asia.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Symphytum species are perennial herbaceous plants. The roots are thickened. The aboveground plant parts are hairy rough or bristly.

The change-constant leaves are simple. The basal leaves are stalked and the stem leaves are sessile and decurrent ( in many species ) on the stem. There are no stipules present.

Generative features

As a typical inflorescence a terminal double winding is formed. There are no bracts present. The hermaphrodite flowers are radial symmetry and fünfzählig with double perianth. The five sepals are more than up to the middle intergrown with unequal calyx lobes, they are extended slightly to fruit maturity. The five bright - purple, white or rarely yellow petals are often fused tube amps to bell-shaped. In the corolla tube are five appendages, called " Kronschuppen ", with papillose glands. The five Kronlappen are triangular to semicircular with serrated margins and the tip can sometimes be rolled up. It's just a circle with five stamens present; they are adherent to the corolla tube and do not project the crown. The two carpels are fused into a superior ovaries, which is divided by notches into four Klausen with one ovule. In the depression of the four-part ovary with convex pen pad the thin stylus, ending in a capitate stigma and usually surmounted the crown is.

Are formed Klaus fruit. The four sub- fruits are ovoid, sometimes slightly unequal -sided, usually glandular - verrucose, reticulate - rugose or rarely smooth. The seeds have elaiosomes.

Medicinal plant

The comfrey species were already used in ancient times as a medicinal herb. Your name derives from its use in fractures and open wounds. Even with injuries to ligaments and tendons, the plants medicinal properties was attributed. Both the mean today recognized generic name Symphytum as well as the common in earlier works Consolida name translates to " Growing Together" (Latin: consolidare, gr: symphýein ). As a medicinal plant, especially the True Comfrey is ( Symphytum officinale ) is used and grown in herb gardens. Applied externally, it is effective for bruises, sprains and strains, but the use is restricted. Is used comfrey in so-called " blunt trauma " due to its analgesic, anti-inflammatory and decongestant effect. The healing effect on the skin is due to the ingredient allantoin, which has now also found in cosmetics numerous applications. Allantoin cause of the acceleration of cell structure and cell formation, which was used in ancient medicine, especially in the treatment of leg ulcers. When Nicholas Culpeper is read: comfrey to heal and put together that divided pieces of meat grow back together when they are cooked with comfrey in a pot such a force.

Soil conditioners

What they all have in common is that they grow very quickly and can become a nuisance in the garden quickly. In the garden, comfrey species are often used as a mulch material. Comfrey manure is an excellent organic nitrogen fertilizer. ( See also plants, manure )

The suitability as a mulch material is because comfrey species in the soil for nutrients " dig ", which are often not available in nutrient- poor soil for other plants.

Toxicity

Comfrey contains varying amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids that act hepatotoxic and carcinogenic ( high dose and as a single agent ). The Commission E has therefore approved for use Germany as a medicinal plant only under restrictions. Comfrey products may not be marketed in Canada and some states in the United States for internal use.

System

The genus name Symphytum was first published in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum. Type species is Symphytum officinale. Synonyms for Symphytum L. are Procopiana Guşul. orth var, Procopiania Gusul .. The genus Symphytum belongs to the tribe Boragineae in the subfamily Boraginoideae within the family Boraginaceae.

Species

There are in the genus Comfrey ( Symphytum ) about 40 species:

  • Symphytum abchasicum Trautv. ( Syn: Symphytum ibericum var abchasicum Gvin. ): The home is Georgia.
  • Symphytum aintabicum Hub. -Mor. & Wickens: The home is located in Turkey.
  • Symphytum anatolicum Boiss. The home is situated on the islands of the eastern Aegean, Turkey, Lebanon and Syria.
  • Rough Comfrey ( Symphytum asperum Lepech, Syn. Symphytum asperrimum Sims ): The original distribution area is located in the Caucasus region and western Asia.
  • Symphytum besseri Zaver. The home is located in Ukraine.
  • Symphytum bornmuelleri Buckn. The home is Turkey.
  • Symphytum brachycalyx Boiss. The distribution area is located to the Palestinian region and selectively in southern Turkey.
  • Tuberous comfrey ( Symphytum bulbosum Schimp, Ex.:. . Symphytum zeyheri KFSchimp, Symphytum tuberosum subsp bulbosum ( KFSchimp. ) P.Fourn. . ): The home is located in the Mediterranean.
  • Caucasian comfrey, Caucasus comfrey ( Symphytum caucasicum M.Bieb. ): The homeland is the Caucasus region and possibly Iran.
  • Symphytum circinale Runemark: The circulation area covers the eastern Aegean islands of Samos and Ikaria to Rhodes and Euboea.
  • Herzblättriger comfrey ( Symphytum cordatum Waldst & Kit ex Willd.. . ): The home is Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Romania.
  • Symphytum creticum ( Willd.) Greuter & Rech.f.: In addition to Crete this type colonized the southern Peloponnese and Zakinthos.
  • Symphytum cycladense Pawl. The home is located on only two islands in the Greek region South Aegean.
  • Symphytum davisii Wickens: The home is located in Greece.
  • Symphytum floribundum Buckn. ( Syn: Symphytum mediterraneum FWSchultz ): He is based in France.
  • Large-flowered Comfrey ( Symphytum grandiflorum DC. ): The home is the Caucasus region.
  • Symphytum gussonei FWSchultz: The distribution is on Sicily and the surrounding islands.
  • Symphytum hajastanum Gvin. Home is Armenia.
  • Creeping Comfrey ( Symphytum ibericum Steven ): The home is Georgia and Turkey.
  • Symphytum icaricum Pawl. , The home is the eastern Aegean islands.
  • Symphytum insular ( Pawl. ) Greuter & Burdet ( Syn: Procopiania insularis Pawl, Trachystemon orientalis sensu Rech.f.. ): The home are Karpathos and the Cyclades.
  • Symphytum kurdicum Boiss. & Hausskn. The home is Turkey.
  • Symphytum longisetum Hub. -Mor. & Wickens: The home is Turkey.
  • Symphytum microcalyx Opiz: The distribution area is located in Ukraine.
  • Symphytum naxicola Pawl. The home is Greece.
  • True Comfrey, Common Comfrey ( Symphytum officinale L.): It is widely distributed in Eurasia from Spain to China: White Comfrey ( Symphytum officinale L. subsp bohemicum ( FWSchmidt ) Čelak, Syn: .. Symphytum bohemicum FWSchmidt ):
  • True Comfrey ( Symphytum officinale L. subsp officinale, Syn. Symphytum patens Sibth. )
  • Marsh comfrey (. Symphytum officinale L. subsp uliginosum ( A.Kern ) Nyman, Syn: .. Symphytum uliginosum A.Kern, Symphytum tanaicense Steven, Symphytum officinale L. var glabrescens Nicklès )
  • Symphytum tuberosum L. subsp. angustifolium ( Kern. ) Nyman ( Syn: Symphytum leonhardtianum Pugsley, Symphytum tuberosum subsp nodosum ( Schur ) Soó. )

Swell

  • Masha Bennett: Pulmonarias and the Borage family. Timber Press, Portland, 2003, ISBN 0-88192-589-6.
  • Gelin Zhu, Harald Riedl, Rudolf V. camel: Symphytum. In: Wu Zheng -yi, Peter H. Raven (eds.): Flora of China. Volume 16: Gentianaceae through Boraginaceae, Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 1995, ISBN 0-915279-33-9, p 359, online.
  • Symphytum. In: The Euro Med Plant Base Project. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin- Dahlem, July 21, accessed 4 December 2011 (English).

Additional literature

  • Abbey of Fulda: Comfrey - what is it, 9th edition, Fulda 2000, ISBN 3-924201-05-6? .
  • Fried man Pahlow: The Big Book of medicinal plants. Grafe and Dead Ringers, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-7742-3848-0.
  • Peter Schoenfelder, Ingrid Schoenfelder: The Cosmos medicinal plants leader. European medicinal and poisonous plants. 4th edition. Franckh, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-440-05854-9.
  • Avril Rodway: Herbs and spices. The useful plants of nature - culture and use. Tessloff, Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3-7886-9910-8.
  • Ursel Bühring: Practice textbook of modern medicinal plants. Fundamentals, application, therapy. 2nd revised edition. Sunday Verlag, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-8304-9097-6, p 411
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