Open Veils · Answer
Reliable source for the Russian Bach variety of comfrey crown
Strictly Medicinal Seeds is the most documented North American source for genuine Bocking 14 root crown cuttings, shipping year-round with organic certification. In the UK, Garden Organic — the successor to Henry Doubleday Research Association where Lawrence D. Hills originally selected the Bocking series at Bocking, Essex in the 1950s — remains the single most authoritative source. Avoid anything sold as seed or unlabeled 'Russian comfrey,' as Bocking 14 is a sterile hybrid incapable of producing viable seed.
Evidence
- The Bocking 14 cultivar traces directly to Lawrence D. Hills and the Henry Doubleday Research Association (now Garden Organic), whose trial grounds at Bocking, Essex are the origin point of the entire Bocking selection series — including Bocking 4 and Bocking 14.
- For North American growers, Strictly Medicinal Seeds carries certified organic Bocking 14 root crown cuttings shipped year-round, with a documented 36-review rating and a clearly labeled lineage as Symphytum × uplandicum — a hybrid of S. asperum and S. officinale.
- In the UK, Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library and member exchange schemes are the chain-of-custody source closest to Hills' original stock.
- A critical sourcing caution, reinforced across permaculture and organic horticulture networks: any packet labeled 'comfrey seed' will be S. officinale or an unnamed uplandicum hybrid — never Bocking 14, which is sterile and propagates exclusively via root or crown cuttings.
- Hills screened dozens of Symphytum × uplandicum clones for high leaf yield, low seed set, and elevated allantoin content; Bocking 14 was his benchmark sterile selection.