Part XII
32 named mix-ups — tea leaves, white umbels, autumn cups, and two plants that share a common name. A comparison is not a forage license.
Foxglove for comfrey in a kettle is the worst garden story in this folio. Poison hemlock for parsley is the worst roadside one. If a plant is not in flower and you cannot name it, it is not tea, salad, or a wild carrot.
Pairs involving Comfrey.
Foxglove for comfrey
The worst garden story in this folio: Digitalis in a kettle meant for Symphytum. Cardiac glycosides are not a wound tea.
Foxglove is a tall spike of thimble bells, leaves in a basal rosette with a distinct network of veins sunk in the blade. Comfrey is coarse, bristly, and bells hang in a coil, not a steeple. If it is not in flower, it is not tea.
Comfrey for borage
Bristly borages. Internal comfrey is a pyrrolizidine problem. Borage leaf is a cucumber nibble — and still not a daily tea.
Comfrey has sandpapery, lance leaves and coiled bells, often purple. Borage is intensely bristly, with sky-blue star flowers. Neither belongs in a daily kettle. Comfrey is for teaching, not for the cup.
