Symphytum tuberosum

Today's the day ....................... for something special

I had to give you the latin name for this comfrey that grows under the rhododendron hedge in our garden - because, it is a bit special.

It's not your usual purple, Russian comfrey, you see - it's the tuberous one with the subtle pale yellow flowers - and, although it's quite common in Scotland, it isn't further south.  It reproduces itself in a different way from the purple one, having rhizomes that allow it to spread out from the original site, colonizing and competing as it grows.  The usual pollinators are the common carder bumble bee, honey bee and and red mason bee.

One of its common names is 'knitbone' which gives you a clue about the healing role that comfreys have played in herbal medicine throughout the ages.  In traditional cures, the leaves are used to speed up the healing of minor abrasions by application to the damaged skin under a compress.

All in all - a special plant ..................