Flora of Israel | Palestine Comfrey

Symphytum brachycalyx, Symphytum palaestinum,
Palestine Comfrey, סינפיטון ארץ ישראלי

Scientific name:   Symphytum brachycalyx Boiss.
Synonym name:   Symphytum palaestinum Boiss.
Common name:   Palestine Comfrey
Hebrew name:   סינפיטון ארץ ישראלי
Family:   Boraginaceae, זיפניים


Life form:   Hemicryptophyte
Leaves:   Alternate, entire
Flowers:   White
Flowering Period:   March, April
Habitat:   Mediterranean maquis and forest
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Symphytum, Greek sympho, to grow together; phyton, plant; symphyton used by Dioscorides for the plant called comfrey which was reputed to heal wounds.

brachycalyx, brachys βραχυϛ, short, little; calyx καλυξ, husk, covering, calyx; short calyx.
palaestinum, from Palestine.
The Hebrew name: סינפיטון, synphyton, translated from the scientific name.

  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885),a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.