Folk names: Elena grass, divosil.
Parts used: rhizome and leaves.
Pharmacy name: rhizome of elecampane - Helenii rhizoma (earlier: Rhizoma Helenii), leaves of elecampane - Helenii folium (earlier: Folia Helenii), and also Radix and Folia Helenii.
Botanical description. Perennial plant with hard, branching, thickened, fleshy rhizome. From it departs the upright furrowed stem of the height of more than 1 (up to 2.5) m, fluffy, branched out in the upper part. Root leaves are large, elongated and elliptical, with long petioles. Cerebral leaves are heart-shaped, stem-comprehensive. All leaves are felt-improved from the lower side and irregularly crenellated or dentate along the edge. Large flower baskets (6-7 cm in diameter) are yellow, single or loosely grouped. Blossoms from June to September. Wildlife present along village pastures, in coastal shrubs, near fences and fences. But sometimes it is grown with great care in some homestead lands. I'm a work in progress. Collect in autumn or spring rhizomes of powerful developed plants at the age of at least 3 years. They are cut into mugs or lengths for drying. Leaves are taken from young plants and dried in the air.
The active ingredients are: essential oil with nine-force camphor (ellenin), a mixture of different alantolactones, bitterness in the form of sesquiterpenlactones, polyacetylene and a lot of inulin (Composite starch).
Healing effect and application. Medical use of elecampane is different. There is both a liquefying mucus and a soothing cough, and a mild antispasmodic effect. This gives reason to consider elecampane a proven component of good coughing teas, which can also be effective in asthma and whooping cough. However, it must be said that only a few doctors actively use this plant.
Tea from the rhizome of elecampane: Pour 1 teaspoon with the top of the raw material into 1/4 litre of boiling water and allow to infuse for 15 minutes. When coughing and asthma, this tea is sweetened with honey and drunk in small sips. Dosage: 2-4 times a day for 1 cup.
Tea blend of cough: Rhizome elecampane 20.0 Thyme grass 15.0 Thyme root 5.0
Pour one teaspoon of tea spoon with the top of the mixture into 1/4 of cold water, slowly heat up to boiling point, let it boil for about half a minute, strain and drink sweetened with honey, small sips 2-4 times a day for 1 cup.
Application in folk medicine. Not the news that the same plant in folk medicine treats many illnesses. This is especially true for elecampane. Here in the foreground are lung diseases with coughs, followed by gastrointestinal diseases, gall bladder, liver, bladder and kidney diseases. It is also shown for meteorism, jaundice, urinary retention, diarrhea and worms. Ninety-seven is used mainly in the form of tea according to the above recipe. If you lose your appetite, it is recommended to chew the roots of elecampane before eating. It is believed that the fresh leaves of elecampane put on the wounds, promote their healing, accelerate the maturation of abscesses, soften the tumors. They tried to make ointments out of elecampane, but they did not become widespread.
Side effects. Overdose leads to vomiting and stomach aches. Allergies are common. The German Public Health Service is of the opinion that, despite all the praise for the rhizome of elecampane, it is not sufficiently proven to be effective for the above indications and therefore does not consider itself entitled to speak out for its use because of possible side effects.
Note. Naturally, the abovementioned negative attitude towards the 9th force cannot serve as a ban on its use.