Pixiebell Comfrey

This somewhat poisonous plant should only be used with careful magical preparation. It is inadvisable to consume it, but its magic is useful for traps and some external healing ointments, from which its nickname "boneknit" was derived.

Pixiebell Comfrey is extremely useful on its own as a plant in any ecosystem, and is often used as a home for pixies and beneficial insects, giving this variety of comfrey its name.

## Description

Pixiebell Comfrey can be told apart from regular comfrey varieties by its shimmering flowers, as though dusted with starlight or the iridescence of butterfly wings. Its flowers are also different colors even upon the same plant, ranging the whole spectrum of the rainbow and some ultraviolet ranges as well. The leaves are large and broad, usually 1-2 feet wide and twice as long, and are softly fuzzy with a crisp and refreshing scent. The leaves notably have a shimmering magic to their edges when wet or submerged in water, which can make them easy to spot in the rain.

It should not be consumed, as it is mildly poisonous to immediate dizzying effect. This prevents most insects and herbivores from nibbling it, and keeps it off the table of magical banquets.

### Magical Properties

While not all potions with these effects may use Pixiebell Comfrey as an ingredient, these are traits commonly ascribed to the plant:

* Topical healing of wounds and fractures
* Snares and binding
* Divination
* Water
* Protection in travel
* Anti-theft/security
* Simple joy/happiness
* Playfulness

## Habitat

This relatively common herb is usually found in temperate forests along secluded streams and lakes, damp meadows, riverbanks, and even hidden within ditches. Much of its magic is thought to come from the pixies who make it home, so where there is Pixiebell Comfrey, there are usually pixies.

### How to Collect

Break off the leaves from the base of the plant. Its magical properties are **most potent just before flowering**, so most apothecaries and alchemists seek to have their stocks be harvested in spring, before May 1.

As a note, pixies have been known to defend the plant, but offering a treat to the resident pixies and taking care not to uproot the whole plant are easy ways to mollify the magical creatures.

### How to Prepare

The leaves can be used fresh or dried. From this form they can be added to topical creams and salves, or used in crafting traps, alarms, or enchantments.

## Gardening

This soil-shading plant provides a wonderful habitat for beneficial insects, which can help keep a garden pest-free and makes it popular in magical gardens. It also attracts pollinators with its vibrant flowers, and the fast-growing leaves are excellent for both ingredient use as well as magical fertilizer. It does not grow well indoors when kept away from pixies, insects, and other wildlife, so is best grown in garden plots with a high biodiversity.

This is a hardy plant that grows easily from both seed during the spring and from root cuttings at any time of year, even the dead of winter, though at that time the ground will need a lot of work to loosen while frozen. Top the seeds or cuttings with high-nitrogen soil (such as manure, grass, or clover) and water well.

Pixiebell Comfrey should be pruned many times a year, which can be used for mulching and soil fertilization. Simply chop up the leaves and scatter them around other plants.

## Known Uses of Pixiebell Comfrey

* Healing Salve,
* Phoenix Down,
* Magic Binding Trap,
* Magic Alarm Trap
* Magical fertilizer for high-nutrient-need plants
* ...?