Herbs Past

Elecampane

Elecampane aka horseheal (Inula helenium) is a perennial herb that is hardy in USDA zones 3-8. It can grow to a height of 4-5 feet. It is a member of the aster family (Asteraceae). Elecampane is native to temperate Eurasia.

Medicinally, elecampane is grown for its roots, which are harvested when the herb is two or three years old. The roots contain a significant concentration of the chemical compound inulin. In traditional medicine elecampane is used to treat a wide variety of conditions, but “it is chiefly used for coughs, consumption and other pulmonary complaints, being a favourite domestic remedy for bronchitis.” Quoting the entry titled “Elecampane” at https://botanical.com which presents information from A Modern Herbal by Mrs. Sophie Emma Magdalene (“Maude”) Grieve (originally published in 1931).

In De Materia medica (c. 65 AD) Dioscorides describes the medicinal use of elecampane in Greece after the Roman conquest. One remedy that he describes, powdered elecampane root mixed with honey to form a lozenge for the treatment of coughs, has been in use for at least two thousand years. Le Calendrier de Cordoue (c. 961-976 AD) records that elecampane (rāsin or janā in Arabic) was being grown in the gardens of Islamic Iberia. Today elecampane is frequently grown as an ornamental.

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