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| Departments » Herbal Medicine » Materia Medica » Inula helenium |
Note - the monographs are provided for informational purposes only, and are not to be used for self-medication.
Inula helenium (Elecampagne)
| Botanic Name | Inula helenium |
| Common Name | Elecampagne, Elfwort, Scabwort, Elf Dock, Wild Sunflower, Horseheal, Velvet Dock (Grieve) Alant, Yellow Starwort (McGuffin) |
| Family | Asteraceae (Compositae) |
| Parts Used | Rhizome (Hoffmann)
Root (Mills) Rhizome and Root (McGuffin) |
| Habitat | Native of south-east Europe and western Asia, but found as a naturalised escape in Britain, Ireland, and north mid-west USA (Mills) |
| Constituents | Volatile
Oil (helenin, camphor and related constituents) (Mills),(Hoffmann)
Bitter principles (Mills),(Hoffmann) Triterpenoid saponins (Mills),(Hoffmann) Mucilage (Mills),(Hoffmann) 40% Inulin (Hoffmann) Polyacetylene (Salmond) |
| Actions | Stimulating
expectorant (Mills),(Hoffmann)
Diaphoretic (Mills) Digestive tonic (Mills) Relaxant (Mills) Warming (Mills) Bacteriostatic (Mills),(Hoffmann) Stomachic (Hoffmann) Anti-tussive (Hoffmann) |
| Applications | Congestive
bronchial and pulmonary conditions and to helping the cough arising
out of such conditions by increasing its productivity (Mills)
Chronic bronchitic problems in the elderly (Mills) Useful for congestive conditions in children (Mills) Cough of pulmonary tuberculosis (Mills),(Hoffmann) Support debilitated constitution and digestion (Mills),(Hoffmann) Irritating bronchial coughs (Hoffmann) Bronchitis (Hoffmann) Emphysema (Hoffmann) Asthma and bronchitic asthma (Hoffmann) |
| Body Systems | Digestive, Respiratory, Cardiovascular |
| Dosage | 1 –4 gm
dried root tds (Mills)
3 – 5 ml tds tincture (1:5 25%) (Salmond) 1:1 25% 1.5-4mls tds (BHP) |
| Combinations | Marrubium
vulgare, Ascelpius tuberosa Achillea millefolium for Bronchitis,
Fever, and Pleurisy(Hoffmann),(Salmond)
Grindelia camporum, Glycyrrhiza glabra for Asthma (Salmond) |
| C/I Cautions | Pregnancy(McGuffin),(Bradley)
Lactation(McGuffin),(Bradley) Large doses cause vomiting, diarrhea, spasms, and symptoms of paralysis (McGuffin) Occasional allergic reactions (e.g. contact dermatitis) (Bradley) |
| BHP S/I | Irritating cough of bronchitis. Phthisis. |