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.
