The root is used for lung complaints and was a traditional treatment for tuberculosis, whooping cough and asthma. The Anglo-Saxons associated it with magic and religion, considering it a cure for ‘elf-shot’ and the ‘evil eye’.

By medieval times in Britain, the roots were being candied and eaten as sweetmeats - a sensible snack as chronic lung problems were a bane of the age. Decoctions of the roots can also be used for eye complaints or taken internally to expel worms.

Culpeper listed many uses including “the root boiled well in vinegar, beaten afterwards,and made into an ointment with hog’s suet or oil of trotters, [as] a most excellent remedy for scabs and itch in young or old” and went so far as to claim it a cure for “putrid and pestilential fevers, and even the plague.”

This information is purely for the interest of the reader and should not be taken as medical advice. If you wish to utilise herbal remedies, please consult a qualified herbalist before doing so.