Seasonal Wild Flowers

White Comfrey

Symphytum orientale

Boraginaceae

April to May

It is found mainly in the Southeast, South and East Anglia.

It is scattered elsewhere.

For a map see the National Biodiversity Network Gateway

It is a neophyte which was introduced into the UK in the 1750s

and has been known in the wild since the 1850s.

It is found in hedgerows and open woodlands, by footpaths,

lanes, roads and railways, and on waste ground.

It may be increasing.

White Comfrey is a perennial, hairy herb, growing up to 70cm.

It is the UK's only white flowered Comfrey.

Flowers are tubular (5 fused petals) and up to 9mm across.

The style is longer than the corolla and a close look shows

that there are scales and stamens inside the flower.

The sepal teeth are short and blunt.

Stem leaves are more rounded than in other comfreys and do

not run down the stem. They may be either stalked or sessile.

White Comfrey by a disused railway, Dorset

White Comfrey, in a lane, Beaminster, Dorset

Flower spikes

Anthers, scales and styles

Upper leaves

Rounded lower leaf

Leaf stalks - not running down stem