ELECAMPANE (Inula helenium)
Benefits of Elecampane Root for Horses
Elecampane, the golden ‘ elf wort ’ of old, is a champion for the lungs - a chest-clearing asthma hero while also supporting digestion and vitality.
Please note this is a nutritional, functional food supplement and not veterinary medicine. For more on this, see Dr Kellon's Horse Sense - Nutrition is not 'Alternative' Therapy .
Find Elecampane in the EquiNatural range
Here’s where you’ll also find Elecampane in our supplement support for horses:- BreathePlus - powerful support for chronic equine respiratory / allergy resilience
- KoffTonic - natural support for the cough reflex and airway comfort
- PollenTonic - natural support for spring pollen allergy challenges
Feed Guide
💧Organic Elecampane Tincture
Our human-grade, certified organic tinctures give you a ready-to-absorb potent source of phytonutrients at the highest-strength available, for immediate absorption straight into the bloodstream and to the body’s cells.
- Inula helenium
- Root
- Decocted 1:3 35%
- Fresh Organic
~ Feed Guide - elecampane tincture for horses
- 6ml/100kg bodyweight, daily in feed.
- ♻️ Our tinctures come in a heat-sealed, twin-neck, child-resistant HDPE plastic dosing bottle, complete with dosing chamber. *HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) plastic is 100% recyclable, and energy-efficient to produce. Safe for food/water storage, it reduces waste and emissions while resisting wear. A top sustainable choice to match the EquiNatural ethos.
🌿Dried Herb
Grown, harvested and dried without the use of agri-chemicals, non-irradiated and GMO free - see our Quality page for Quality Management & Certification Documents.
- Inula helenium
- Root, Cut
- Organic Cultivated
- Origin UK
~ Feed Guide - dried elecampane root for horses
- 5g/100kg bodyweight per day, i.e. 25g for a 500kg horse.
- Want a scoop? You can add a scoop to your basket during checkout.
- ♻️Supplied in a 100% fully recylable, resealable, food-grade foil pouch for freshness.
Footnotes
- Laboratory tested for identification and compliance to the British and European Pharmacopoeia standards.
- Human grade.
- Please be aware that if you're purchasing our dried botanicals for human use, our dried range is cut to appropriate sizes for feeding to horses.
- ♻️ Eco Note: Our packaging is recyclable and refillable.
- 🧊 Storage Tip: Keep cool and dry.
Functional Nutritional Value
Constituents: Essential oils (camphor; sesquiterpene lactones alantolactone helenalin and isoalantolactone), polysaccharides (primarily inulin, and up to 44%), alkaloids, bitters, sterols, resin, sodium, calcium, and magnesium.
Safety
- Pregnant or nursing mares - always seek veterinary advice before feeding.
Elecampane in History & Tradition
Tall, sunny, and steeped in myth, elecampane( Inula helenium ) is one of those plants that seems to come with a built-in fan club. The Greeks thought it sprang from the tears of Helen of Troy, while the Celts believed elves sheltered under its enormous leaves - hence names like elf wort and elf dock.
Whether it’s inspiring legends, feeding bees with its bright yellow flowers, or anchoring itself with a root as thick as your wrist, elecampane has always been a plant of presence.
Sunflower-like
Elecampane can grow as tall as a person (sometimes taller if it’s feeling ambitious). Its leaves are huge - soft and woolly underneath, rough on top - like nature’s own velvet dock.
Come summer, it bursts into sunflower-like blooms that light up fields and hedgerows. And below ground? A hefty root, sweet with inulin and pungent with aromatic oils, is where the real magic lies.
Energetically...
Energetically, elecampane is warm, protective, and deeply supportive - like someone who always knows what to do when you’re feeling run down. It banishes “stuckness,” whether that’s congestion in the lungs, sluggish digestion, or the low spirits that come with being under the weather.
A lung hero
The Greeks and Romans prized elecampane as a respiratory tonic, and herbalists still do. Its mix of soothing mucilage and stimulating volatile oils make it:
- A gentle but effective expectorant(loosening phlegm and easing coughs)
- Soothing to inflamed tissue after too much hacking and wheezing
- Helpful for stubborn, chronic issues like bronchitis, asthma, and even TB(in vitro studies have confirmed its antibacterial punch against tuberculosis bacteria)
The Romans even made sauces with the root to aid digestion after heavy meals, and Pliny went so far as to say, “let no day pass without eating some elecampane - good for digestion, and good for mirth.”
Clearly, this is a herb with a sense of humour too.
For the gut and beyond
Elecampane root is rich in inulin, a prebiotic fibre that feeds friendly gut bacteria, balances blood sugar, and even doubles up as a diabetic-friendly sweetener. Traditionally it’s been used as a digestive bitter, revving up appetite, improving nutrient absorption, and banishing sluggishness.
But it doesn’t stop there:
- Its “blood-cleansing” qualities have been linked to clearer skin in eczema and dermatosis.
- It can calm intestinal parasites(pinworms and Giardia).
- And with its warming, moving energy, it’s been used for sciatica, gout, arthritis, and menstrual complaints - including easing PMS and even helping with afterbirth expulsion.
Today...
Researchers are now exploring elecampane’s potential as an anti-cancer herb, with compounds like alantolactone showing anti-mitotic activity in breast cancer cell studies. Others suggest it could be a useful chemopreventative agent, thanks to its ability to encourage detoxifying enzymes.
From elves to Romans, Celts to Native Americans, elecampane has earned its reputation as a herb of both healing and myth. A tall plant with brilliant golden flowers in the summer, it’s a plant that doesn’t just heal - it won't fail to put a smile on your face too.
