Symphytum L.
(comfreys)

Interactions where Symphytum is the victim or passive partner (and generally loses out from the process)

The following relationships have been collated from the published literature (see 'Interaction References').

Filters:

Affected Part		Summary			Taxon	Vernacular	Classification	References	Darwin Classification of Active Taxon	Active Taxon	Active Vernacular	Active Taxon Uncertain	Active State	Active Part	Active Stage	Relationship	Relationship Uncertain	Relationship Geography	Darwin Classification of Passive Taxon	Passive Taxon	Passive Vernacular	Passive Taxon Uncertain	Passive State	Passive Part	Passive Stage	Passive Taxon's significance to Active Taxon	Indoors etc	Season	Summary
		is foodplant of			Mogulones asperifoliarum	a weevil	Coleoptera: Curculionidae	Host Plants of British Beetles: A List of Recorded Associations, Bullock, J.A., 1992	/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Coleoptera/Curculionidae/Mogulones asperifoliarum/	Mogulones asperifoliarum	a weevil					Foodplant / feeds on			/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys								feeds on
(wet, dead, decayed)		wet, dead, decayed debris is decayed by fruitbody			Pterula caricis-pendulae	Pendulous Sedge Club	Agaricales: Pterulaceae	Checklist of the British and Irish Basidiomycota, Legon, N.W. & Henrici, A. with Roberts, P.J., Spooner, B.M. & Watling, R., 2005	/Fungi/Basidiomycota/Agaricomycetes/Agaricales/Pterulaceae/Pterula caricis-pendulae/	Pterula caricis-pendulae	pendulous sedge club				fruitbody	Foodplant / saprobe			/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys		wet, dead, decayed		debris				fruitbody is saprobic on wet, dead, decayed debris
flower		flower is galled by larva			Dasineura symphyti	a gall midge	Diptera: Cecidomyiidae	Provisional Keys to British Plant Galls, Stubbs, F.B. (Editor), 1986	/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Diptera/Cecidomyiidae/Dasineura symphyti/	Dasineura symphyti	a gall midge				larva	Foodplant / gall			/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys			flower					larva causes gall of flower
leaf (basal, base of) (decayed)		decayed leaf (basal, base of) is decayed by fruitbody			Hemimycena candida	a toadstool	Agaricales: Mycenaceae	Checklist of the British and Irish Basidiomycota, Legon, N.W. & Henrici, A. with Roberts, P.J., Spooner, B.M. & Watling, R., 2005 Bioimages - the Virtual Field Guide, Storey, M.W., 2015	/Fungi/Basidiomycota/Agaricomycetes/Agaricales/Mycenaceae/Hemimycena candida/	Hemimycena candida	a toadstool				fruitbody	Foodplant / saprobe		UK and/or Eire	/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys		decayed	leaf (basal, base of)		Sole			fruitbody is saprobic on decayed leaf (basal, base of)
leaf		leaf is grazed by larva			Longitarsus curtus	a flea beetle	Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae	Host Plants of British Beetles: A List of Recorded Associations, Bullock, J.A., 1992 The British Species of the genus Longitarsus (Col., Chrysomelidae), Kevan D.K., 1967	/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Coleoptera/Chrysomelidae/Longitarsus curtus/	Longitarsus curtus	a flea beetle				larva	Foodplant / open feeder		UK and/or Eire	/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys			leaf					larva grazes on leaf
leaf		leaf is grazed by adult			Longitarsus curtus	a flea beetle	Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae	Host Plants of British Beetles: A List of Recorded Associations, Bullock, J.A., 1992 The British Species of the genus Longitarsus (Col., Chrysomelidae), Kevan D.K., 1967	/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Coleoptera/Chrysomelidae/Longitarsus curtus/	Longitarsus curtus	a flea beetle				adult	Foodplant / open feeder		UK and/or Eire	/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys			leaf					adult grazes on leaf
leaf		leaf is grazed by larva			Longitarsus nasturtii	a flea beetle	Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae	Host Plants of British Beetles: A List of Recorded Associations, Bullock, J.A., 1992 The British Species of the genus Longitarsus (Col., Chrysomelidae), Kevan D.K., 1967	/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Coleoptera/Chrysomelidae/Longitarsus nasturtii/	Longitarsus nasturtii	a flea beetle				larva	Foodplant / open feeder		UK and/or Eire	/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys			leaf		Major			larva grazes on leaf
leaf		leaf is grazed by adult			Longitarsus nasturtii	a flea beetle	Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae	Host Plants of British Beetles: A List of Recorded Associations, Bullock, J.A., 1992 The British Species of the genus Longitarsus (Col., Chrysomelidae), Kevan D.K., 1967	/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Coleoptera/Chrysomelidae/Longitarsus nasturtii/	Longitarsus nasturtii	a flea beetle				adult	Foodplant / open feeder		UK and/or Eire	/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys			leaf		Major			adult grazes on leaf
leaf		leaf is mined by communal larva			Agromyza abiens	a leaf-mining fly	Diptera: Agromyzidae	Diptera: Agromyzidae, Spencer, K.A., 1972	/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Diptera/Agromyzidae/Agromyza abiens/	Agromyza abiens	a leaf-mining fly		communal		larva	Foodplant / miner			/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys			leaf					communal larva mines leaf
leaf		leaf is mined by larva			Agromyza myosotidis	a leaf-mining fly	Diptera: Agromyzidae	Diptera: Agromyzidae, Spencer, K.A., 1972	/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Diptera/Agromyzidae/Agromyza myosotidis/	Agromyza myosotidis	a leaf-mining fly				larva	Foodplant / miner			/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys			leaf					larva mines leaf
stem (large) (dead)		dead stem (large) is decayed by fruitbody			Lachnella alboviolascens	a cyphelloid fungus	Agaricales: Niaceae	Checklist of the British and Irish Basidiomycota, Legon, N.W. & Henrici, A. with Roberts, P.J., Spooner, B.M. & Watling, R., 2005	/Fungi/Basidiomycota/Agaricomycetes/Agaricales/Niaceae/Lachnella alboviolascens/	Lachnella alboviolascens	a cyphelloid fungus				fruitbody	Foodplant / saprobe			/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys		dead	stem (large)					fruitbody is saprobic on dead stem (large)
stem (dead, decayed)		dead, decayed stem is decayed by fruitbody			Lachnella villosa	a cyphelloid fungus	Agaricales: Niaceae	Checklist of the British and Irish Basidiomycota, Legon, N.W. & Henrici, A. with Roberts, P.J., Spooner, B.M. & Watling, R., 2005	/Fungi/Basidiomycota/Agaricomycetes/Agaricales/Niaceae/Lachnella villosa/	Lachnella villosa	a cyphelloid fungus				fruitbody	Foodplant / saprobe			/Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Boraginaceae/Symphytum/	Symphytum	comfreys		dead, decayed	stem					fruitbody is saprobic on dead, decayed stem

Author & Year	Title	Source
Bullock, J.A., 1992	Host Plants of British Beetles: A List of Recorded Associations	11a, 24pp, Amateur Entomologists’ Society
Kevan D.K., 1967	The British Species of the genus Longitarsus (Col., Chrysomelidae)	Ent. Mon. Mag. Vol 103: 83-110.
Legon, N.W. & Henrici, A. with Roberts, P.J., Spooner, B.M. & Watling, R., 2005	Checklist of the British and Irish Basidiomycota	517pp, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Spencer, K.A., 1972	Diptera: Agromyzidae	Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects , Vol X. Part 5(g), 136pp, The Royal Entomological Society of London
Storey, M.W., 2015	Bioimages - the Virtual Field Guide	www.bioimages.org.uk
Stubbs, F.B. (Editor), 1986	Provisional Keys to British Plant Galls	95pp, British Plant Gall Society (BPGS)

Symphytum (comfreys) may also be included in 'fed on by' relations listed under the following higher taxa:

BORAGINACEAE
(borages, comfreys and forget-me-nots)

EU-DICOTS
(dicotyledonous flowering plants)

MAGNOLIOPSIDA
(flowering plants)

TRACHEOPHYTA
(vascular plants)

PLANTAE
(plants)

Herbaceous Plants
(herbaceous plants)

Subtaxon				Rank	Featured subtaxa	No of interactions	No of references
Symphytum asperum Rough Comfrey				Species		4 trophisms
Symphytum bulbosum Bulbous Comfrey				Species		1 trophisms
Symphytum caucasicum Caucasian Comfrey				Species		1 trophisms
Symphytum officinale Common Comfrey				Species		19 trophisms
Symphytum officinale x asperum = S. x uplandicum Russian comfrey				Species hybrid		5 trophisms
Symphytum orientale White Comfrey				Species		2 trophisms
Symphytum tuberosum Tuberous Comfrey				Species		7 trophisms

Taxonomic hierarchy:

Genus	Symphytum (comfreys)
Family	BORAGINACEAE (borages, comfreys and forget-me-nots)
Subclass	EU-DICOTS (dicotyledonous flowering plants)
Class	MAGNOLIOPSIDA (flowering plants)
Phylum	TRACHEOPHYTA (vascular plants)
Kingdom	PLANTAE (plants)
Domain	Eukaryota (eukaryotes)
Life	BIOTA (living things)

Symphytum is also a member of:
Herbaceous Plants - herbaceous plants (via Boraginaceae)

NBN

NBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for Symphytum (comfreys)

Symphytum (comfreys) may be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

MAGNOLIOPSIDA
(flowering plants)

TRACHEOPHYTA
(vascular plants)

PLANTAE
(plants)

Eukaryota
(eukaryotes)

BIOTA
(living things)

Literature listed under the following higher taxa may be relevant to Symphytum (comfreys):

MAGNOLIOPSIDA
(flowering plants)

TRACHEOPHYTA
(vascular plants)

PLANTAE
(plants)

Eukaryota
(eukaryotes)

BIOTA
(living things)

BioImages

BioImages (www.bioimages.org.uk) has 78 images of Symphytum (comfreys)

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