Elecampane

Elecampane is one of the plants of the family called Asteraceae or Asteraceae; in Latin the name of this plant will be as follows: Inula salicina L.

As for the name of the elecampane family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Asteraceae Dumort.

Description of elecampane

Elecampane is a perennial rhizomatous herbaceous plant with a straight stem and creeping rhizome. The leaves of this plant are alternate and protruding, they are quite hard and pointed, and also lanceolate. It is noteworthy that the lower leaves taper towards the base, while the middle and upper leaves are endowed with a heart-shaped base. Flower baskets are painted in yellow tones; they can be either single or located in a sparse shield. The marginal flowers are ligulate, and the middle ones will be tubular. There are only five stamens; the pistil of this plant is endowed with an inferior ovary and a bipartite stigma.

Elecampane blooms from July to August. The fruits of elecampane are bare achenes. Under natural conditions, this plant can be found in the European part of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Central Asia, Western and Eastern Siberia, as well as in the Far East: namely in the west and south of the Amur region, the Kuril Islands and Primorye. For growth, this plant prefers forests, shrubs, forest edges, steppes, meadows, lake and river banks, and chalk outcrops. It is noteworthy that sometimes elecampane can be found as a weed in fallow lands, right down to the lower mountain zone.

Description of the medicinal properties of elecampane

Elecampane is endowed with very valuable healing properties, and it is recommended to use the flowers, rhizomes, stems and leaves of this plant for medicinal purposes. The presence of such valuable healing properties is explained by the content of alkaloids, essential oil, inulin and carbohydrates in this plant. The aerial part of the plant contains flavonoids, tannins and essential oils.

Preparations based on this plant are used for diseases of the liver and throat, as well as warts, venereal diseases and acute respiratory diseases. As for the herbal decoction of this plant, it is effective for angina pectoris and spasmophilia, and the infusion of this plant is used for epilepsy.

An infusion prepared from the rhizomes of elecampane is used for angina pectoris, stomach cancer, hepatitis, scrofulosis, furunculosis, and also as a choleretic agent and in the postpartum period. Fresh leaves of this plant can be used as a wound healing agent, as well as for gargling, as a poultice for rashes and sore throats. As for traditional medicine, an infusion of elecampane leaves is used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and gonorrhea. The leaves of this plant can also be used as a spice.

For angina pectoris, stomach cancer, cholecystitis, hepatitis, hyperacid gastritis, as well as as a choleretic and detoxifying agent for poisonous snake bites, it is recommended to use the following remedy: to prepare it you will need to take one tablespoon of crushed roots and rhizomes of this plant per three hundred milliliters of boiling water. The resulting mixture should be infused for three to four hours, and then this mixture should be carefully filtered. Take this remedy based on elecampane, one-third or one-fourth of a glass three times a day. To ensure the effectiveness of such a remedy, all conditions for taking such a remedy must be strictly observed.