Inula helenium
| Elecampane | |
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| 1897 illustration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Inuleae |
| Genus: | Inula |
| Species: | I. helenium |
| Binomial name | |
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Inula helenium L. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Elecampane (/ˌɛlɪkæmˈpeɪn/), Inula helenium, also called horse-heal or marchalan (in Welsh), is a widespread plant species in the sunflower family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and Asia from Spain to Xinjiang Province in western China, and naturalized in parts of North America.
Other common names include elfdock; aunée (French); helenio, enula campana (Spanish); Echter Alant (German); and enula campana (Italian).
Elecampane is a rather rigid herb, the stem of which attains a height of about 90–150 cm (35–59 in). The leaves are large and toothed, the lower ones stalked, the rest embracing the stem; blades egg-shaped, elliptical, or lance-shaped, as big as 30 cm (12 in) long and 12 cm (4.7 in) wide. Leaves are green on the upper side with light, scattered hairs, but whitish on the underside because of a thick layer of wool. The flower heads up to 5 cm (2 inches) broad, each head containing 50-100 yellow ray flowers and 100-250 yellow disc flowers. The root is thick, branching and mucilaginous, and has a bitter taste and a camphoraceous odor with sweet floral (similar to violet) undertones.
The plant's specific name, helenium, derives from Helen of Troy; elecampane is said to have sprung up from where her tears fell. It was sacred to the ancient Celts, and once had the name "elfwort".
In France and Switzerland it is used in the manufacture of absinthe.
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Wikipedia