# Elecampane (Inula helenium)

**Inula*, *helenium**

**Known today as.** The root of *Inula helenium*.

Kind: Plant  
Qualities: Hot and dry (Galenic tradition).  
Poisoning: Compositae dermatitis (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/sesquiterpene-lactone)

## What was it used for?

Candied or in syrup for coughs and the chest, and to warm the stomach.

## What does modern science say?

Inulin, a fiber, was first isolated from it and named for it; it is a mild expectorant.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **alantolactone**: a sesquiterpene lactone
- **isoalantolactone**: 
- **inulin**: 44 per cent of the root, which was named for it

**Mechanism.** The lactones are expectorant and antiseptic in the airways and kill intestinal worms; they are also strong contact sensitisers, and elecampane is a classic cause of allergic dermatitis in gardeners. Inulin was first isolated from this root in 1804.

**Dose.** Large doses vomit and purge; the lactones sensitise the skin.

**Standing.** No EMA monograph; in the German tradition for coughs. Alantolactone is studied in cancer cells.

## What lore surrounds it?

Folkard quotes Rapin, “Elecampane, the beauteous Helen's flower,” and the tale that when Paris carried off Helen she “was said to have had in her hand a nosegay of the bright yellow flowers of the Elecampane, which was thenceforth named Helenium, in her honour.” The monks “considered it capable of restoring health to the heart,” Turner says “the root chewed fastens loose teeth,” and “from its broad leaves, the Elecampane is sometimes called the Elf-dock.”

Grieve collects the fables of the name: Gerarde's “It took the name Helenium of Helena, wife of Menelaus, who had her hands full of it when Paris stole her away into Phrygia,” another “that it sprang from her tears,” another that Helen first used it against venomous bites. The old distich runs “Enula campana reddit praecordia sana,” and “‘Julia Augustus,’ said Pliny, ‘let no day pass without eating some of the roots of Enula, considered to help digestion and cause mirth.’” Fifty years before Grieve wrote, the candied root “was sold commonly in London as flat, round cakes,” sucked when travelling by river “against poisonous exalations and bad air,” and “in Denmark, Elecampane is sometimes called Elf-Doc.”

## What did the older authorities say?

**Pliny.** Says the plant sprang from the tears of Helen of Troy, whence *helenium*.

## Sources

- Pliny, *Natural History* XXI.
- Folkard, R. (1884). *Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics*, “Elecampane.” Project Gutenberg #44638.
- Grieve, M. (1931). *A Modern Herbal*, “Elecampane.” botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/e/elecam07.html
- Seca, A. M. L., et al. (2014). “The genus *Inula* and their metabolites.” *Journal of Ethnopharmacology* 154.
- Paulsen, E. (2002). “Contact sensitization from Compositae-containing herbal remedies and cosmetics.” *Contact Dermatitis* 47.

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*Elecampane.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/elecampane

Historical description, not medical advice.