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Elecampane

Inula helenium

Also calledHorse-heal · Scab-wort · Elf-dock, Elf-wort (Celtic folklore) · Áillean (Irish) · Aunée (French) · Tu mu xiang (Chinese)

A tall yellow-flowered daisy whose bitter, aromatic root was a European cough and chest remedy from medieval Ireland to the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Its sesquiterpene lactones kill staphylococci in the lab, but the only randomised trial tested it as one ingredient of a children's honey syrup, and the German Commission E gave it a negative monograph because of allergy risk and lack of evidence.

What it is used for

  • Cough
    Limited

    In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 106 children aged 3–6, a syrup of acacia honey with mallow, elecampane, plantain and Helichrysum extracts reduced night and day cough scores and shortened cough over 8 days. Elecampane was one of five active ingredients, so its own contribution is unknown.2

  • Hydro-ethanolic root extracts and their sesquiterpene lactones (alantolactone, isoalantolactone, igalan) inhibited Staphylococcus aureus in laboratory tests. No studies in people.1

  • Bronchitis
    Traditional

    The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia lists it as an expectorant and antitussive for tracheal and bronchial catarrh, bronchitis and whooping cough; medieval Irish texts used it for coughs and 'consumption'. Not tested in trials.1

How it is prepared

decoction

The chopped dried root is boiled in water and strained.

British Herbal Pharmacopoeia (as cited by Kenny et al. 2022): 1.5–4 g dried root as a decoction, three times daily.

Cough · Bronchitis

fluid extract

Liquid extract 1:1 in 25% alcohol.

British Herbal Pharmacopoeia (as cited by Kenny et al. 2022): 1.5–4 ml, three times daily.

Cough · Bronchitis

Amounts are as recorded by the named source, not a recommendation.

Safety

Pregnancy
Insufficient data
Breastfeeding
Insufficient data

Do not use if

  • Allergy to plants of the daisy family (Asteraceae) or to sesquiterpene lactones

Side effects

  • Allergic contact dermatitis; case reports of inflammatory skin reactions linked to elecampane and related Inula species

Toxicity

The concern behind the negative Commission E monograph was allergy from its sesquiterpene lactones; systemic allergic dermatitis is a recognised risk with lactone-containing plants. Epidemiological data are lacking.

In the healing traditions

  • European folk medicine

    Áillean / Ellea (Irish)

    Medieval Irish medicine used it for the chest, coughs and consumption: the powdered herb was boiled with barley water, liquorice, cinnamon and sugar. For colic and difficult urination, a plaster of the herb boiled in wine and oil was laid on the navel. The name 'scab-wort' records its use on the skin.

    Tadhg Ó Cuinn, Irish materia medica (c. 1415)

  • Western herbalism

    Helenii rhizoma

    Antitussive, antiseptic expectorant and diaphoretic; for catarrh of the airways, bronchitis, whooping cough and the cough of tuberculosis, often combined with horehound, coltsfoot or yarrow.

    British Herbal Pharmacopoeia

  • Traditional Chinese Medicine

    Tu mu xiang

    One of three roots sold as 'mu xiang' (with Aucklandia lappa and Vladimiria souliei), which are easily confused in trade.

Active compounds

alantolactone and isoalantolactone
eudesmanolide sesquiterpene lactones (the 'helenin' mixture); anti-staphylococcal in vitro, widely studied in cancer cell lines; likely contact allergens
inulin
storage polysaccharide, up to 44% of the root with pectic substances
igalan
elemanolide sesquiterpene lactone; antibacterial in vitro

History

Legend says elecampane sprang from the tears of Helen of Troy, hence 'helenium'. Tadhg Ó Cuinn's Irish materia medica of about 1415 prescribed it for coughs and consumption, and it stayed in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia as a chest remedy. In the 1980s the German Commission E rejected it, and later official monographs left it out.

Sources

  1. 1.Kenny CR et al. From monographs to chromatograms: the antimicrobial potential of Inula helenium L. (elecampane) naturalised in Ireland. Molecules 2022;27:1406
  2. 2.Carnevali I et al. Efficacy and safety of the syrup KalobaTUSS as a treatment for cough in children: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. BMC Pediatr 2021
  3. 3.Wei R et al. Aucklandia lappa, Vladimiria souliei, and Inula helenium: a comprehensive review of three confusable Muxiang varieties (2015–2025). J Ethnopharmacol 2026 (abstract)
  4. 4.GBIF: Inula helenium L. (accepted name)

Reference, not prescription. Nothing here is medical advice. Herbs can interact with medicines and be dangerous in pregnancy; tell your doctor or pharmacist about anything you take.