Botanical Name:- Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth.
Family:- Scrophulariaceae
Hindi Name:- कुटकी
It is found in abundance on 2500-4500 m high peaks of the Himalaya mountains from Kashmir to Sikkim.
Morphology:- Its shrub is hairy. Its underground stem is perennial, as thick as a little finger and 15 to 30 cm long. Leaves are 5-10 cm long, pointed, narrowed towards the base, broad towards the front, slightly smooth and have cut fringes. A stalk emerges from the middle of the shrub at the end of which bunches of flowers grow. Flowers are blue or white in colour. Pod is quarter inch long. Kutki is the root (rhizome) of this shrub. These are 2.5 to 5 cm long, rough and twisted pieces with a colour like incense. There are small circular knots and marks of fallen leaves and roots on them. It is thick on one side and thin on the other side and has a mild smell. Its taste is very bitter.
Properties and Uses:-
It is an excellent bitter nutritive, digestive, bile-relieving and periodic fever-reliever. Its action is on the intestines and liver. It is astringent in small quantities and laxative in large quantities. It is used as a bitter nutritive like Gentian. Its properties are similar to those of Indrayan.
It is used in periodic fever, cold fever, jaundice, anemia, liver disorders, asthma, malnutrition, heart disease, dysentery, intestinal laxity and children’s worm disorders.
(1) It gives good relief in recurrent fevers but it has to be given in large quantity (3-4 grams). It gives good relief in all chronic low fevers of non-specific nature, especially in fever with obstruction. It calms the burning sensation caused by fever.
(2) Its action on the heart is like that of digitalis. In liver enlargement and gastroenteritis caused by heart failure, giving it in large quantities in the form of decoction is beneficial by causing loose stools and strengthening the heart.
(3) Arogyavardhini Gutika contains half the quantity of this.