AMAZING ELECAMPANE ROOT

“Let no day pass without eating some roots of elecampane to help digestion, expel melancholy and cause mirth”

Pliny

Family: Asteraceae

Latin name: Inula helenium

Other common names: elfdock, horseheal, wild sunflower, scabwort.

Elecampane is a tall, perennial, rhizomatous plant that can grow up to 90-150 cm in height. It originates from Europe and Asia but now is also naturalized in North America. The herb usually grows along roads, on the river banks and forest edges. The leaves are green, serrated, covered with thin pubescence on the upper side and with velvet hairs on the underside. The leaf blades can be elliptical or lanceolate, about 30 cm long and 12 cm broad. The flower heads are about 5 cm wide and contain about 50-100 yellow or orange ray flowers and 100-250 disc florets.  The inflorescences usually appear in summer and can grow in clusters or corymbs, and sometimes there are single buds. The root is quite thick, ramose and muculent. It’s known to have a bitter taste. According to some Greek legends, elecampane sprouted from the tears of Helen who was kidnapped by Paris. That is why in Europe the plant is often called "Helen’s grass". The plant is also referred to as wild sunflower due to the fact that its large yellow inflorescences resemble sunflowers in appearance.

Parts used: leaves, roots.

Chemical composition of elecampane root

• inulin
• volatile oil
• polysaccharides
• resin
• saponins
• alkaloids
• ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
• tocopherol (vitamin E)
• alantolactone
• dehydrohalogenation
• helenin
• flavonoids

Elecampane Interesting Facts

• Ancient Celts and Druids considered elecampane sacred and called it ‘elfwort’.
• The herb is utilized for the production of absinthe in Switzerland and France.

The plant is most often used in the form of decoctions, infusions, tinctures, powders, ointments and syrups

Elecampane Syrup

What you need:

• 1/2  cup of of dried elecampane
• 2 cups of water
• 4 cups of honey
• 1/8 cup of dried horseradish root
• 1/4 cup of dried ginger root
• 1 tbsp of powdered ascorbic acid

Put the herbs and water into a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. Then cover it and infuse for about 20 minutes (the water should become dark). Strain the mixture. Heat the infused water together with honey in order to prepare syrup. Remove from the heat and add the ascorbic acid to the syrup. Pour the mixture into a bottle and store it in the fridge. Take it not more than 4 times a day! One serving for adults is 1 tbsp of the syrup and children can take only 1 tsp per serving. The syrup should not be consumed by children under 2.