A tall perennial plant with yellow flowers, valued in traditional medicine for treating respiratory ailments and coughs.
From Latin 'inula' (the plant) + Old French 'aine' or similar, evolving through Old English as 'elecampane.' Medieval herbalists imported this plant from the Mediterranean and it became widespread in European herb gardens.
Elecampane root candy was literally medieval cough drops—apothecaries would sugar-coat the root and sell it as medicine, which is why the plant shows up in old pharmaceutical recipe books across Europe.
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