Elecampane Live Plant, 3.5 Inch Pot

We'll begin shipping plants early to mid March, once temperatures are suitable to ensure your plants arrive healthy and happy.

Elecampane is a dramatic statement plant — huge, velvety leaves and tall stalks topped with bright yellow sunflower-like blooms that can reach 6 feet or more. This is not a subtle herb. It commands space and attention, and if you have room for it, elecampane brings both visual impact and deep medicinal roots to the garden.

This substantial perennial appreciates rich, moist soil and full sun, though it tolerates some shade. First-year plants focus on establishing massive leaves and strong roots; flowering typically begins in the second year. Give elecampane plenty of room — mature plants can spread 3-4 feet wide. The roots, harvested in fall of the second or third year, have a distinctive candy-like aroma.

Herbalists traditionally value elecampane root for supporting respiratory health and as a warming digestive bitter. The roots are typically harvested in fall when their medicinal compounds are most concentrated, and the distinctive aroma becomes more pronounced with drying. Ancient Romans valued elecampane highly enough to cultivate it throughout their empire. Medieval herbalists considered it essential for lung health and called it "elfwort" or "elf dock" in English tradition. The genus name Inula comes from Helen of Troy — one legend holds that elecampane sprang from her tears.