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Creeping comfrey

Symphytum grandiflorum

Also called Running comfrey, Cherubim And Seraphim

Creeping comfrey
Photo: Andrew Curtis, CC BY-SA 2.0

Creeping comfrey is a spreading perennial from the Caucasus, grown in borders and shady spots for its ground cover habit and tubular flowers. It spreads readily by rhizomes, so give it room or contain it.

Family
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade, Shade
Water
Water regularly during establishment and in dry spells; it tolerates moist soil well.
Soil
Moist, fertile, well-drained soil; tolerates a range of soil types.
Temperature
Hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8; cold-hardy to roughly -20 °C.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: Leaves and roots contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can damage the liver with prolonged or heavy exposure.
Native range
Caucasus
Climate
temperate

About

Symphytum grandiflorum, the creeping comfrey, or running comfrey is a species of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae. It is native to the Caucasus region, and introduced to various locales in Europe as a garden escapee. A deer-tolerant perennial, it is hardy in USDA zones 5 through 8, and is recommended for borders and shady situations. The unimproved species and a number of cultivars are commercially available. Also, it has been crossed with Russian comfrey (Symphytum × uplandicum) to produce the multi-cross hybrid Hidcote comfrey (Symphytum × hidcotense, named after the Hidcote Manor Garden), of which a range of ornamental cultivars are available.

The official first formal scientific species description was published in 1846 by the Swiss botanist Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle (1806–1893). The specific epithet grandiflorum means "with large flowers".

Other Symphytum plants

Common comfrey · Tuberous comfrey

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Symphytum grandiflorum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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