“(to aid digestion)…a species of herb-robert, bitter eryngo, comfrey, bogbean, scariole maidenhair, elecampane, and bugloss, of each item one and one half fistfuls, honey and sugar of each one pound; wine of pomegranate one half pound. Let a syrup be made from them.”
Cormac Mac Duinnshléibhe, An Irish Version of Gualterus de Dosibus, 1250
Cover art by Albert Marquet
Elecampane or inula helenium or campana is also called wild sunflower, wild parsnip, elfin root, elf-doc or elfwort, yellow starwort, horse elder and horseheal. It’s called ellea in Gaeilge and eallan or aillean in Scots Gaelic. The Greeks named it Inula for Helen of Troy, wife of Meneluas, who was believed to have had an armful of the plant when she was abducted by Paris. A second Greek legend claimed that the plant sprang from her tears. Elecampane, the common name is a corruption of the name Enula campana which lended to the plant growing wild in the area in Italy known as Campania. Elecampane is one of the most potent herbal medicines I’ve had the pleasure to work with and one of the first things I reach for when I have a cough. This wonderful plant is surely a favorite that I keep close throughout the entire cold season.
Dioscorides mentioned it as being used as a diuretic, encouraging menstrual flow, treating coughs, asthma, digestive issues as well as the bites of venomous creatures. Elecampane is particularly known to be popular around monastic sites in Ireland and is often found still growing there naturally. It’s unclear exactly when Elecampane was introduced to Ireland. It was spread by two possibilities. The first and most likely possibility is that it was spread along with Christianity by way of its use in Rome and the Roman Catholic religion. The second unlikely possibility is that it was cultivated and traded by the early Gauls to Ireland and its use was reclaimed by Irish monks and priests.
In Ireland, it was used to aid digestion1 as well as alleviate pains in the joints, cure itchy conditions, as a diuretic, to provoke menstruation, treat consumptive coughs and shortness of breath2,3, tuberculosis, asthma and whooping cough. It was used for similar purposes throughout Scotland, Isle of Man and England. Additionally it was used to treat toothache and for treating farm animals with similar chest and lung conditions.4 In fact, this was likely where the nickname ‘horse heal’ and ‘horse elder’ derives from. In Wales, elecampane was recommended to treat a many number of things and again, shortness of breath, cough and cold as well as psoriasis, scar healing, hepatitis, to make teeth white, scropula, joint health, itching, lepra and to make plaster for injuries.5 There was a famous medieval saying “Elecampane will the spirits sustain.”
Elecampane is in the Asteraceae family and native to Europe and Asia but has become naturalized in North America, Australia and New Zealand. Elecampane has lengthy subtly serrated leaves with yellow fringe-like flowers that typically bloom from mid summer through autumn and it may have been associated with the Summer Solstice or Lughnasadh. It’s a perennial hardy from zone 3 through 9, grows up to 3 m or 10 ft. and prefers damp meadows or banks and part to full sun. Elecampane’s energy is warm and bitter. The leaves and roots are the edible portion and have a pungent and bitter yet sweet taste. It’s most commonly used as a tincture, extraction, decoction or in a syrup or lozenge. Roots should be harvested in the fall after the 2nd year of growth and plants are well established. You can harvest the whole root and plant or only take slices off of the main taproot. The clean white root interior is the medicinal portion.
Benefits
antibacterial, anticancer and antitumor, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antispasmodic, anthelmintic, blood tonic, decongestant, digestion tonic, diuretic, expectorant, respiratory tonic, skin tonic, vulnerary
Recipe
Elecampane Cough Syrup
Ingredients: 2oz. or 1/4 cup elecampane root, 2 oz. or 1/4 cup fresh chickweed, 1 oz. or 1/8 cup marshmallow, 1 oz. 1/8 cup mullein, 16 oz. or 2 cups water, 4 oz. or 1/2 cup honey, 1 tbsp. powdered ascorbic acid (as a preservative), resealable glass bottle, label
Instructions: Pour the water and herbs into the cooking pot and heat to boiling. Reduce to a simmer, cover pot with lid and allow herbs to steep at minimum for 20 minutes. Strain the herbs and add honey and ascorbic acid. You may have to reheat a little for the honey and ascorbic acid to dissolve completely. Pour the finished product into a bottle and label. Store in the refrigerator and use within a few months.
Children over age 2 and under 12: Take 1 tsp. of syrup no more than 4 times daily for coughs.
Adults: Take 1 tbsp. of syrup no more than 4 times daily for coughs.
References
- Duinnshléibhe, Cormac Mac, An Irish Version of Gualterus de Dosibus, 1250.
- K’Eogh, John, Botanologia Universalis Hibernica, or An Irish Herbal, Cork, 1735, edited by Michael Scott, 1986, pg. 61.
- O’ Cuinn, Tadhg, Irish Materia Medica, Ireland, 1415.
- Allen, David and Hatfield, Gabrielle, Medicinal Plants in Folk Tradition: An Ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland, Timber Press, 2004, pg. 292.
- Myddvai, Meddygon, Pughe, John and Williams, John, The Physicians of Myddvai, Wales, 1861.
Isla Skye / The Druid's Cauldron Historical Society
We are a registered non-profit, The Druid’s Cauldron Inc. 501(c)(3) The Druid’s Cauldron is an independent journal established in 2016, dedicated to the preservation and exploration of the druids, filid/poets, culture, native wisdom, and the living traditions of the isles. We exist to recover folklore, herbalism, spiritual philosophy, and ecological knowledge embedded in the whispers of our ancestors.
Through deep research into traditional folklore, herbalism and mythology as well as personal artistic endeavors, we seek to cultivate a deeper relationship with the land, the seasons, and to one another. We are committed to serious inquiry and evidence-based information, or it is alluded that it’s personal philosophy and labeled as such. The Druid’s Cauldron is a space for the curious, the contemplative, and those who feel called to remember older ways of being in right relationship with the land and each other.
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