Elecampane.
Enula campana.
A TALL and robust plant, wild in some parts of England, but kept in gardens for the uses of medicine; it grows five feet high, and the flower is yellow, and very large. The stalk is round, thick, upright, very robust, and reddish: the leaves are long, large, and rough, and they are pointed at the ends; of a pale green colour. The flowers grow at the tops of the branches, and have something like the appearance of a double sun flower. They are two inches in diameter, yellow, and very beautiful. The root is long and thick, and is brown on the outside, and white within.
The root is the part used; we have it dried from Germany, but it is for most purposes better to take that fresh out of the garden, which we have here. Hardly any plant has more virtues. It is good in all disorders of the breast and lungs, and it opens obstructions: It operates by urine powerfully, and also by sweat: and the juice of it will cure the itch, applied externally. Its greatest virtue, however, is against coughs, and for this purpose it is best taken candied, provided that be well done. A little of it may in this way be held almost continually in the mouth, and swallowed gently, so that it will take effect much better than by a larger dose swallowed at once.
