Medieval herb garden blog 81: Elecampane

Elecampane has a strong, pungent and bitter flavour. Because of this, it usually wasn’t eaten on its own. It was used to flavour desserts, baked goods and drinks.

The root was boiled and candied in sugar syrup. This traditional sweet was eaten as both a treat and a remedy for asthma and lung congestion.

The root was also simmered with honey and sometimes a splash of vinegar to create a cough syrup. The chopped or powdered root was sometimes steeped in alcohol or vinegar. This was drank as an aperitif before meals to promote healthy digestion.

Please note: eating too much of the raw root can cause mild nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Elecampane roots produce a rich grey dye. Iron modifiers can shift the colour to blue-grey or sage tones. The plant's yellow flowers can also be used to create a yellow-orange dye.

In Homer's 'Odyssey', Helen of Troy is supposed to have been holding elecampane when she was kidnapped by Paris. The plant was also said to have sprouted wherever her tears fell.

In Flemish and Celtic traditions, elecampane was often included in “nine-herb protective bouquets”. These were hung in homes on holy feast days to guard against storms and witchcraft.

At the start of the 1900s elecampane and sugar sweets were commonly sold. They took the form of a flat, round cake coloured with cochineal (small red beetles). They were eaten to treat asthma, one piece in the morning and at night. When travelling by a river, people commonly sucked a bit of the root to protect against “poisonous exalations”.

Elecampane was also known as horse-heal and scabwort. It was said to cure skin diseases in horses and sheep scab.

A wine called 'Potio Paulino' was made from elecampane in the Middle Ages. 'Potio Paulino' means 'Paul’s drink'. It was a reference to St. Paul’s advice (1 Timothy 5:23) to "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities”.

In Neufchâtel, Switzerland, elecampane root is used to make absinthe. It is also a constituent of the French Vin d'Aulnée.

Elecampane is mentioned in Minoan, Egyptian and Chinese writings from the 2000s BC onwards. It was recommended for intestinal worms, eczema, kidney disease, peptic ulcers, animal and insect bites. It was also used for diseases of the chest and lungs.

The ancient Greeks and Romans used elecampane to treat upper respiratory infections and to aid digestion. Pliny’s 'Natural History' (77 AD) said “Let no day pass without eating some of the roots of Enula, considered to help digestion and cause mirth”. The Greek physician Dioscorides agreed with Pliny in his book 'De Materia Medica'. This was a standard medical text in Europe until the late Middle Ages.

Elecampane is frequently mentioned in Anglo-Saxon writings. During the 1400s AD,

The Irish writer Tadgh Ó Cuinn’s prescribed elecampane in his 'Materia Medica', written in the 1400s AD. It was to be blended with liquorice root and cinnamon. This mixture helped with respiratory problems and consumption (tuberculosis). He also described making a poultice from the herb to be applied externally, on the belly button, for digestive problems.

Elecampane was also used against scabs, itches and to clear skin. It also helped to get rid of intestinal parasites like threadworms and hookworms.

*As always, this isn't to be considered medical advice today. Please don't use any plants mentioned in these blogs as medicine without advice from a doctor.