A comparison of variegated comfrey types (Last updated 6/1/2025)

The following three variegated forms of comfrey all have this in common; the portions of their leaves lacking in chlorophyll are sensitive to sunburn if they do not have constant access to moisture during the summer and so will likely be best grown in very moist soil or in a location sheltered from direct mid-day sun during summer.  Additionally, none of these selections appear to have virally induced variegation, but rather appear to be a chimera variegation in that they contain a mix of both normal and albino tissue variously distributed through their above ground parts.

Symphytum ×uplandicum 'Axminster Gold' 

I'm not sure the origin of this clone, but appears to be the only available variegated clone of Russian comfrey at this time.  The green portions of the foliage have a slight haze giving them an attractive silvery cast.  I don't see this in green leaf forms of comfrey so I suspect it may be possible that the surface cell layer is lacking chlorophyll even in areas of the leaf that appear green due to chlorophyll present in lower layers of the leaf.  'Axminster Gold' can not be propagated true to type via root cuttings as the roots to not appear to contain the variegated tissue.  Any resulting plants from root cuttings will simply be green leaved.  To propagate true to type there are two methods.  Clumps can be divided, keeping only pieces with existing growing points from the crown.  This is ideal for potted specimens as dividing an in ground specimen will result in fragmented roots which can resprout solid green growth points which can distract from or outcompete the desired variegated growth.  Alternatively, lower portions of flowering stems can be cut and rooted to produce true to type plants without disturbing the established parent plant.

One problem I've been having with 'Axminster Gold' is that it has a tendency to produce growth points with too much variegation with barely any green.  Sometimes it even produces fully albino growth points.  While that sounds attractive, if it happens when the plant is not yet well established, it can really stunt its growth from lack of chlorophyll.  In contrast, the new 'Copy Cat' clone (documented below) has not shown this tendency in the first two years since its discovery, and hopefully this will continue to be the case.  If so, I may decide to discontinue propagating 'Axminster Gold' in favor of propagating 'Copy Cat' for distribution instead. 

Symphytum officinale 'Copy Cat' (I have successfully propagated this mutant, so now possess multiple stable copies of it.  Therefore, I now recognize it as a cultivar and am very likely to propagate it for distribution in the future once I feel I have documented sufficient data to contrast it with the similar looking 'Axminster Gold' which has been around longer)

Appears quite similar to 'Axminster Gold' on account of having the same variegation pattern, but appears to have arisen as a sport (first spotted in 2023) in a large patch of common comfrey.  When dug up it did appear to be growing from what may have been an older root which had at some point become severed from surrounding roots.  For this reason I don't believe it to be a unique seedling but rather a vegetive sport (mutation) from a neighboring green plant.  Despite similar appearance it is genetically distinct from 'Axminster Gold' which is generally listed as a hybrid Russian comfrey clone.   

The chimeral variegation of this clone can only be reproduced via propagation from above ground plant parts such as rooted flower stems, severed growth points or division of clumps, though the latter is discouraged for in ground plantings as any severed roots left in the soil (unavoidable) will regenerate normal green, non-variegated growth points.

There wasn't much to this plant when I first found it, but it showed promise.

Look how much it has grown just a year after the previous picture!  It looks like the flowers are light pink rather than the light lavender of the similar looking 'Axminster Gold'.  This may prove to be a way to distinguish between the two clones, but more evaluation will be needed because comfrey flower color can vary when grown in differing soils.

Late spring of 2025, just two years after this mutant was originally discovered and look how it has matured!  So far it has proven very stable with zero reversions back to green.  I have managed to root a small number of cuttings from it using the base of flower stems since I predict, but have not yet confirmed that root cuttings would produce green plants based on my experience with the similarly variegated clone called 'Axminster Gold.'  The young rooted clones have been planted out to the side of the original so once they put on some growth will form a border along this fence.  It will also give me a lot of material to continue propagating from in the event this clone proves worthy of distribution. 

Symphytum officinale "Pinto" (This plant only exists as a single specimen at this time and so while I am using "Pinto" as its working name for now, I place it in double quotes to distinguish it from an official cultivar name which would be indicated with single quotes)

This mottled "pinto" type variegation appears to be unique as I have not found documentation of any known forms bearing this pattern type prior to this.  This plant was found amid a large colony of common comfrey, but when dug up there was no sign that it was a sport as it had no root connection to surrounding plants and had a rather young looking root overall.  I had observed the presence of this plant since the year prior to when I dug it up for further evaluation and believe it most likely originated as a seedling rather than a from a mutation growing off a severed root from another nearby plant. 
Regarding propagation from root cuttings: I took a root cutting from this plant with the hope that it might grow true, but with the expectation it would revert to solid green like root cuttings of 'Axminster Gold'.  Surprisingly the multiple growth points which have resulted so far from the root cutting have been fully albino so it appears that it may only be reliably propagated from crown division or by rooting cuttings from flower stems.  A positive side effect would be that this variety might be suitable for planting in locations with root disturbance because it would not result in accidental propagation via fragmented roots (assuming the root cuttings all eventually fizzle out and die after sprouting foliage devoid of chlorophyll).

I had gone ahead and put "Pinto" into the garden to mature, but chickens kept getting out and attacking it, so I protected it with wire.  

My garden spot became too shaded and I could tell that this wasn't gonna be the spot to see "Pinto" mature, so I dug it up and back in a large pot it went.  I have not yet succeeded in rooting cuttings from it and had thought I might divide it as it produced three growing points this year (2025), but unfortunately one of the three growing points had become albino with zero green.  I removed the albino growth to limit wasted energy from continued albino leaf growth and left the remaining two growing points together.  In addition to the albino growth point which was removed, "Pinto" has also been occasionally producing albino leaves along the stems (which produce albino branches if growth emerges from the connected node).  This isn't surprising given the randomness of its variegation pattern.  Surprisingly, even after two years, not a single leaf or growth point has been solid green, only the occasional solid white.  

Compared to 'Copy Cat,' the flowers on "Pinto" have been a little more lavender-purple than lavender-pink. 

Are you interested in growing variegated comfrey too?

I periodically offer 'Axminster Gold' comfrey for sale via my nursery (link here).  

If after further evaluation the 'Copy Cat' and "Pinto" selections end up proving stable enough for release and you would like to be notified, please send me a message here.