taxobox name Elecampane image Inula helenium K hler s Medizinal Pflanzen 210.jpg regnum Plantae unranked divisio Angiosperms unranked classis Eudicots unranked ordo Asterids ordo Asterales familia Asteraceae tribus Inuleae genus Inula species I. helenium binomial Inula helenium binomial authority Carolus Linnaeus L. Elecampane , also called Horse heal Inula helenium or Marchalan in Welsh language Welsh , is a Perennial plant perennial composite plant common in many parts of Great Britain , and ranges throughout central and Southern Europe , and in Asia as far eastwards as the Himalayas . It is a rather rigid herb , the Plant stem stem of which attains a height of from 90 cm to 150 cm 3 to 5 feet the leaves are large and toothed, the lower ones stalked, the rest embracing the stem the flower s are yellow, 5 cm 2 inches broad, and have many rays, each three notched at the extremity. The root is thick, branching and mucilaginous, and has a warm, bitter taste and a camphoraceous odor with sweet floral similar to violet undertones. In France and Switzerland it is used in the manufacture of absinthe . Medical use For medicinal purposes, the roots should be procured from plants not more than two or three years old. Besides inulin C sub 6 sub H sub 12 sub O sub 6 sub C sub 6 sub H sub 10 sub O sub 5 sub sub n sub , a body isomeric with starch , the root contains helenin C sub 15 sub H sub 20 sub O sub 2 sub , a stearoptene , which may be prepared in white acicular crystal s, insoluble in water, but freely soluble in alcohol . When freed from the accompanying inula camphor by repeated crystallization from alcohol, helenin melts at 110 C. Recent science Susan O Shea, a research student at Cork Institute of Technology CIT , Ireland, has shown that extracts from the herb kill methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA as well as a broad spectrum of other bacteria . ref cite web url http www.irishexaminer.com irishexaminer pages ... more details
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