Herbs Guide

Costus

Family Name: Asteraceae

Botanical Name(s): Saussurea lappa

Popular Name(s): Kut Root, Kut, Kushtha

Parts Used: The whole herb

Habitat: Costus is found in the Himalayas and Kashmir Valley.

Description: Costus is a perennial herbaceous plant. Its leaves are produced in a dense basal rosette. The flowers occur in a dense head of small capitula, often completely surrounded in dense white to purple woolly hairs.

Uses: Costus is used as an alterative, anthelmintic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, carminative, diuretic and expectorant. It is effective in curing cough, asthma, cholera, jaundice, leprosy, rheumatism and a number of other diseases. Externally, it is applied as an ointment to wounds, skin diseases and tumors.