Elecampane Tall.

Elecampane Tall

A perennial herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family, 1-2 m high. The rhizome is short, thick, fleshy, often multi-headed. The roots are few and thick.

The stem is furrowed and hairy. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, large, the upper ones are small, sessile, they are densely pubescent below, velvety-tomentose, and rigidly spiky above. Blooms in July - September. The flowers are golden yellow, collected in a few baskets. The fruit is a tetrahedral, oblong, brown achene. Ripens in August - October.

Elecampane is common in the Caucasus, Central Asia, forest and forest-steppe zones of the European part of Russia and Western Siberia. It grows in meadows, clearings, along the edges of deciduous and pine forests, the banks of rivers and lakes, and in places where groundwater comes out. Propagated by seeds or cuttings of rhizomes with buds.

Seedlings are first grown from seeds. Bushes are planted at a distance of 0.8-1 m in well-prepared and fertilized soil. The plant is non-toxic; its aerial parts are readily eaten by horses and goats.

Roots and rhizomes serve as medicinal raw materials. When harvesting, they are dug up, shaken off the ground, the aerial part and thin roots are cut off, washed in cold water, cut into pieces 10-20 cm long and into several pieces lengthwise.

Blackened, dead and pest-damaged roots are discarded. The raw materials are dried for 2-3 days in the open air and dried in a warm, well-ventilated room or dryer at a temperature not exceeding 40°C, laid out in a layer of no more than 5 cm. Stored in bags, wooden or glass containers for 3 years.

Roots and rhizomes contain inulin, saponins, resins, gum, mucus, pigment, acetic and benzoic acids, alkaloids, vitamin E and essential oil, the main component of which is helenin - a mixture of various types of lactins (alantolactone, etc.). Essential oil is a good antiseptic and can be used to flavor culinary products.

In the canning and fishing industries, the roots and rhizomes of elecampane are used as a spice and as a substitute for ginger. You can get a good blue paint from them if you mix the infusion with potassium carbonate or potassium alkali.

Elecampane has anti-inflammatory, choleretic, expectorant and weak diuretic effects, slows down intestinal motility and secretory activity and at the same time increases the excretion of bile into the duodenum, which, in combination with an antiseptic effect, has a positive effect in the treatment of the digestive system.

It has been clinically proven that the drug alanton, obtained from elecampane, increases blood circulation in the gastric mucosa, accelerates the healing process of ulcers, increases the amount of bound hydrochloric acid and reduces the content of pepsin, which has a positive effect on the course of the disease. Alanton increases appetite and promotes weight gain, especially in weakened patients.

Elecampane is used for respiratory diseases and bronchitis with increased secretion of thick viscous sputum, cough, gastritis, liver and gallbladder diseases.

It has antimicrobial and anthelmintic properties, especially for ascariasis. It is used for hemorrhoids, irregular menstruation, rheumatism and diabetes. In Bulgarian folk medicine, a tincture of the root is used for palpitations, headaches, epilepsy, whooping cough and as a means to prevent premature birth.

In the treatment of rheumatism, elecampane root is used in a mixture with burdock root.

Elecampane root and rhizome are prescribed in the form of a decoction, infusion, tincture, powder or ointment. The ointment is prescribed for eczema and itchy skin.

To prepare a decoction, pour 2 tablespoons of roots into 1 glass of hot water, boil in a water bath for 30 minutes, cool for 10 minutes, filter and squeeze. Take 1