Botanical Name: Swertia Chiretta

Common Name: Chiraaito

English Name: Chiretta, Brown chiretta, White chiretta

Parts Used: Whole Plant

Habit and Habitat: Himalaya (Kashmir to Bhutan), NE India

Description: Erect herb. Leaves opposite, broadly lanceolate, acute, lower often much larger, sometimes petioled. Flowers green, yellow and tinged with purple.

Uses: Plant is bitter, tonic, stomachic, febrifuge, antipyretic, sudorific, antiperiodic and anthelmitic. It is useful in skin disease, dipsia and gastropathy.

References: “A compendium of Medicinal Plants in Nepal” by Sushim Ranjan Baral and Puran Prasad Kurmi (October’ 2006)