Named in Capitulare de villis
Elecampane
Inula helenium
What was written
Elecampane is named in the Capitulare de villis. It held a place in European herbals continuously from the classical period onward, and its root — thick, aromatic and stored through winter — is the part the old texts are interested in. It naturalised widely across Europe from garden escapes, which is why it now turns up on roadsides looking like something nobody planted.
What is now known
Elecampane is in the daisy family and contains sesquiterpene lactones, a well-documented cause of allergic contact dermatitis. Handling it repeatedly sensitises some people.
The plant itself
A coarse perennial reaching two metres, with enormous basal leaves, woolly beneath, and ragged yellow flower heads whose ray florets are narrow enough to look shredded.
Still growing
Since the plant was written into that garden list, botanists, herbaria and ordinary observers have recorded finding it 34,127 times.
Live count from GBIF, cached for a week.