ELECAMPANE
Inula helenium
COMMON NAMES: Elf dock, scabwort, velvet dock, aunee.
FEATURES: Native of Europe and north Asia, and now naturalized over much of eastern North America.
This stout perennial herb of the sunflower family (Compositae) thrives in moist, sandy, mountainous
areas. The stems are vigorous, 3–4 feet high, downy above, and branched. The leaves are large, ovate and
toothed, the upper ones clasping the stem, the lower ones stalked. The flower heads are golden yellow,
large, solitary, with narrow rays, blooming in July and August. The root is slightly gray, hard, horny, and
cylindrical, and should be dug in the autumn of the second year and split into longitudinal, oblique pieces
having one or more roots. The whole plant is similar in appearance to the horseradish.
The main component of the root is a carbohydrate, inulin, which in the autumn may comprise as much as
45 percent of its weight; its taste is bitter and acrid and the odor reminiscent of camphor.
MEDICINAL PART: Root.
SOLVENTS: Alcohol, water (partial solvent).
BODILY INFLUENCE: Stimulant, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, emmenagogue, tonic.
USES: Elecampane is a constitutional treatment for general catarrhal conditions such as chronic pulmonary
affections that have symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, wheezing in the lungs; a specific for
whooping cough in children, diseases of the breast, malignant fevers, hepatic torpor, dyspepsia, and the
feeling of stitches in the side caused by the spleen. The large amount of natural inulin contained in this
well-known root strengthens, cleanses, and tones the pulmonary and gastric membranes, encouraging a
more harmonious metabolism by assisting the pancreas; it is valued in incipient tuberculosis.
Culpeper also used elecampane for intestinal worms, retention of water, to lessen tooth decay, and for
firming the gums. A personal opinion, but one which we believe to be true, is that inulin decreases
excessive sugar in the blood—and sugar causes tooth decay.
DOSE: Of the powder, from 1 scruple to 1 dram; the decoction, 1 ounce to 1 pint of boiling water taken in
wineglassful doses. Mixes well with other herbs.