Common comfrey vs Prickly comfrey

Symphytum officinale compared with Symphytum asperum

Key Differences

• Common comfrey is Least Concern while Prickly comfrey is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common comfrey	Prickly comfrey
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order same	Boraginales (Boraginales)	Boraginales (Boraginales)
Family same	Boraginaceae	Boraginaceae
Genus same	Symphytum	Symphytum
Species	Symphytum officinale	Symphytum asperum

Evolutionary Relationship

Common comfrey and Prickly comfrey share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Symphytum.

Conservation Status

Common comfrey

LC — Least Concern

Prickly comfrey

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common comfrey	Prickly comfrey
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common comfrey

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (4 countries), Europe (9 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Colombia, Peru).

Prickly comfrey

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan), Europe (23 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Common comfrey

<em>Symphytum officinale</em>, commonly known as common comfrey, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Boraginaceae. It is native to Europe and parts of Asia and has been naturalized across North America, Oceania, and South America. Common comfrey typically grows in moist, nutrient-rich habitats including riverbanks, ditches, floodplain meadows, and woodland margins. The plant produces large, lance-shaped leaves covered in coarse hairs and bears drooping clusters of tubular flowers that range from pale purple to white. It has a long history of medicinal use, particularly for wound healing and bone repair, due to the presence of allantoin in its tissues. However, it also contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can be toxic in high doses. The species is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 11 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇦 Canada 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇯🇵 Japan 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇺🇸 United States