Swertia chirayita

Botanical Description

Swertia chirayita is a biennial to monocarpic perennial plant, producing a rosette of leaves in its first one or more years of growth before producing a robust flowering stem around 60 - 150cm tall with branches in the top part. The plant usually dies after flowering[ 1977 Title Non-Timber Forest Products of Nepal Himalaya - database of some important species found in the mountain protected ar Publication Author Ghimire S.K. et al Publisher WWF Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal Year 2008 ISBN 978-99946-837-9-6 Description ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and for commercial use in cosmetics. A very popular medicinal herb in India and Nepal, where it is harvested in large quantities and traded[ 2020 Title Trade in Indian Medicinal Plants Publication Ethnobotany of India Vol 5., 321-345, 2018 Author D.K.Ved, S.Noorunnisa Begum, & K.Ravi Kumar Publisher Apple Academic Press; Oakville, Canada Year 2018 ISBN 978-1-77188-600-0 Description ]. It is one of the most commonly exported medicinal herbs in Nepal, where large quantities are sent to India and traded in the markets there[ 1977 Title Non-Timber Forest Products of Nepal Himalaya - database of some important species found in the mountain protected ar Publication Author Ghimire S.K. et al Publisher WWF Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal Year 2008 ISBN 978-99946-837-9-6 Description ]. As a result of its popularity as a medicine, the plant is now (2008) being cultivated in parts of Nepal[ 1977 Title Non-Timber Forest Products of Nepal Himalaya - database of some important species found in the mountain protected ar Publication Author Ghimire S.K. et al Publisher WWF Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal Year 2008 ISBN 978-99946-837-9-6 Description ].