Plant
Kutki
A high-altitude Himalayan herb whose wild populations have been pressed by trade. This note is about conservation, not use.
General education, not a diagnosis or emergency care. Medical disclaimer.
Identity
- Common name
- Kutki
- Botanical name
- Picrorhiza kurroa
- Region
- Alpine and subalpine Himalaya, including Himachal Pradesh.
Limits of this note
- Conservation
- Threatened in the wild. International trade is regulated under CITES Appendix II. Sanskrit name: Katuka. Family: Plantaginaceae.
- References
- CITES Appendix II listing for Picrorhiza kurroa.
Kutki is one of the Himalayan species Dr Chandan’s medicinal-plant work has had to treat with care. Picrorhiza kurroa is listed on CITES Appendix II.
This page does not describe where plants grow in enough detail to find them, and it does not explain collection, drying, grading, or processing.
How to read this note
Kutki on this page means Picrorhiza kurroa. Local spellings differ. Follow the scientific name, and check it in a current flora before a study or a purchase.
What is published
- The scientific name and, where it has been entered, the family.
- A region in ordinary language.
- Whether the public note treats the plant as a familiar crop or as a species that needs conservation care.
What is withheld
- A dose, a preparation, or a personal treatment.
- A claim that the plant cures a disease.
- Directions for finding or collecting a wild plant.
- A processing or trade method.
A reviewer has not yet signed this page. Until that review, the note is an identification aid.