SYMPHYTUM.—COMFREY. History, Description, and Chemical Composition

Comfrey is a native of Europe, but naturalized in this country, growing on low lands and moist places, flowering all summer. The root is medicinal; when fresh it is glabrous, fusiform, branching, 10 or 12 inches in length, by 1 in diameter, and very mucilaginous. The dried root, as found in commerce, is in pieces varying from 1 to 4 or 5 inches long, black, and corrugated externally, dark-whitish and corneous internally, nearly odorless, viscid, and slightly astringent. It contains some tannic acid, a trace of starch, some sugar, and a large amount of mucilage, which is readily extracted by water. Asparagine in small amount was obtained from it by Henry and Plisson in 1829.