elecampane

American  

[el-i-kam-peyn] / ˌɛl ɪ kæmˈpeɪn /

noun

1. a composite weed, Inula helenium, naturalized in North America, having large yellow flowers and aromatic leaves and root.

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elecampane British  

/ ˌɛlɪkæmˈpeɪn /

noun

1. a perennial flowering plant, Inula helenium, of Europe, Asia, and North America having large hairy leaves and narrow yellow petals: family Asteraceae (composites)

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Etymology

Origin of elecampane

1350–1400; Middle English, equivalent to Old English ele ( ne ), eolone (metathetic alteration of Medieval Latin enula, Latin inula elecampane) + Middle English campane < Medieval Latin campāna, equivalent to camp ( us ) field + -āna, feminine of -ānus -ane, -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elecampane

God was in the details: in the petals of a cornflower or the veins of an elecampane leaf, in the grain of stone or the purling of a brook.

From Time Magazine Archive

"I just saw a nice plant o' elecampane growin' back there," she said presently to her daughter.

From The Country of the Pointed Firs by Jewett, Sarah Orne

Lungwort, maiden-hair, hyssop, elecampane and hoarhound steeped together, is an almost certain cure for a cough.

From The American Frugal Housewife by Child, Lydia Maria Francis

Among the products of the order, may be mentioned chicory, lettuce, the artichoke, the vegetable oyster, arnica, chamomile-flowers, wormwood, absinth, elecampane, coltsfoot, taraxacum, oil of tansy, etc.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

I'm goin' to fix her up some hoarhound an' elecampane quick's the ground's nice an' warm an' roots livens up a grain more.

From Strangers and Wayfarers by Jewett, Sarah Orne