Inula helenium is a 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.
TRADITIONAL ATTRIBUTES:
No Known aromatherapy attributes but is an astringent, anti bacterial, fungicidal, tonic, calming.
Not recommended for use on skin due to its ability to cause dermal sensitivity, even when well diluted. Use as an inhalant or to vapourise when its aroma becomes more prevalent. It is primarily used as a fixative when employed in cosmetics and perfume because it extends the life of other aromas and does little to change the characteristics of oils blended with it.
Elecampane Blends Well With:-
It blends well with Cananga, Cinnamon, Labdanum, Lavender, Mimosa, Frankincense, Orris, Violet, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Cypress, & Bergamot .
Chemical Constituent Variants:-
The constituents within the oil will vary dependent upon the climate at the time of its growth and harvest and the location of its harvest. For instance – Iranian Elecampane is very different with Cineole (54.89%), p-cymene (16.2%), [beta]- pinene (6.94%) and borneol (5.44%) and from from Greece it contains a high proportion of epi-a-cadinol (up to 30.2%) and bornyl acetate (25.4%).
In Corsica where it most commonly onbained it can contain a-pinene (0.96%), b-pinene (1.3%), y-terpinene (0.09%), camphene (10.41%), d-limonene (1.34%), para-cymene (0.17%), terpinolene (0.05%) a-muurolene (0.34%), b-caryophyllene (1.96%), delta-cadinene (0.22%), y-cadinene (0.56%), germacrene D (0.07%) a-terpineol (1.48%), borneol (13.45%), lavandulol (0.18%), linalol (0.08%), terpinen-4-ol (0.10%) t-cadinol (2.35%) camphor (0.08%), cis-jasmone (0.08%) bornyl acetate (47.17%), camphene hydrate (0.31%), geranyl isobutyrate (0.4%), lavandulic ester (0.48%), lavandulyl acetate (0.34%), other esters (1.29%) 1,8 cineole (0.08%), 2,3-dehydro-1,8 cineole (3.82%), sesquiterpenic epoxide (0.25%) methyl thymol (0.29%)
The oil can be Green or pale Yellow in hue – why? If it is green it has been distilled in a traditinal copper still and trace elements of copper will be present whilst distillation from a stainless steel still will yield a pale yellow oil.
