Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale), of the Boraginaceae family. Coarse hairy perennial with large rough leaves and a black, mucilage-filled taproot; native range: Europe and temperate Asia, in damp meadows and by riverbanks. Globally recognized as knitbone, boneset, knitback, blackwort, bruisewort in English, and gaozaban (used as a substitute) in Urdu. The part used is root and leaf. Bristly leaves and a dark root that turns to slippery mucilage when crushed, the taste bland, sweetish and slimy with an earthy smell.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
COMFREY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Comfrey
- Scientific name
- Symphytum officinale L.
- Family
- Boraginaceae
Form
- Part used
- root and leaf
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- mucilaginous · sweet (bland, slimy)
- Unani
- bland · sweet · astringent (slippery and demulcent)
Temperature
- Western
- cool (to neutral, moist)
- Unani
- temperate (inclining warm, moist)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- skin · joints · lungs · stomach · bowels
- Unani
- lungs · stomach · joints · skin
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- vulnerary, demulcent, astringent, emollient, cell-proliferant (allantoin), expectorant
- Unani
- muhallil (resolvent), mulattif (demulcent), qabiz (astringent), and a wound-agglutinant
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy, lactation and liver disease; not for prolonged internal use, nor on deep dirty wounds, which it may heal over trapped matter
Toxicity: root and mature leaf carry pyrrolizidine alkaloids that are cumulatively hepatotoxic, so external use and short internal courses only
Interactions
- Western
- hepatotoxic drugs: additive liver injury from pyrrolizidine alkaloids
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.