Medicinal Plants (Jadibuti) of Nepal: A Directory of Notable Herbs

Jadibuti (jadi-buti) is the Nepali word for herbs or medicinal plants, and Nepal's steep climb from the subtropical Terai plains to the alpine Himalaya packs an unusual range of them into a small country. The government's Department of Plant Resources (DPR), under the Ministry of Forests and Environment, has documented a large medicinal flora: DPR Bulletin No. 28 (2007) alone described 701 medicinal plants recorded from Nepal, while the Ethno-botanical Society of Nepal's Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Database of Nepal (MAPDON) lists more than 1,600 plant taxa of ethnomedicinal interest. Of these, roughly 300 medicinal and aromatic plant (MAP) species are harvested and traded commercially each year.

These plants underpin several living medical traditions. Classical Ayurveda, practised across the hills and cities, uses many of the same species named in Sanskrit texts; Sowa Rigpa (the Tibetan-Himalayan system, delivered by amchi healers) dominates the high mountains; and a deep body of folk or ethnomedicine is carried by local healers (dhami-jhankri, vaidya) in nearly every district. Beyond healthcare, jadibuti are a genuine rural economy: collection, cultivation and trade of MAPs provide seasonal cash income to hundreds of thousands of households, and the sector is a significant, if under-processed, export earner.

This directory profiles eight of Nepal's most searched and best-documented species. For each herb the key reference points are the Nepali name, the scientific (botanical) name, the plant family, the altitude band and distribution, the plant parts used, the main traditional uses, and the conservation or trade status. Because several of these species are threatened and legally protected, the final section summarises the CITES listings and Nepali laws that decide what can be collected, sold and exported.

The list below is an at-a-glance name reference pairing the common Nepali name with its accepted scientific name, plant family, typical altitude, the parts used, and a headline use. Detailed profiles follow in the sections after it. Scientific names follow current classifications, with older family names noted where they are still widely used in the trade.

Yarsagumba is Nepal's most famous and most valuable jadibuti, and technically it is not a plant at all. Its scientific name is Ophiocordyceps sinensis (long known in the trade as Cordyceps sinensis), a fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae that parasitises the underground larvae (caterpillars) of ghost moths. The fungus consumes the larva and pushes a slender fruiting body up through the soil, producing the half-caterpillar, half-mushroom object that gives the Nepali name its literal sense of 'summer plant, winter insect'. It grows in high alpine meadows roughly between 3,000 and 5,000 metres and has been reported from the northernmost belt of about 27 districts.

In Sowa Rigpa and traditional Chinese medicine, the whole dried caterpillar-fungus complex is used as a potent tonic. It is traditionally taken to strengthen the lungs and kidneys, to restore energy and vitality after illness, and as an aphrodisiac and treatment for impotence, backache, chronic cough and asthma. These reputations have earned it nicknames such as 'Himalayan gold' and 'Himalayan Viagra', and demand from China drives most of the trade.

Collection was banned in Nepal until 2001 (2058 BS), when the government legalised harvesting subject to a per-kilogram royalty; trade volumes then rose sharply through the 2000s. Harvest happens in a short late-spring to early-summer window, when tens of thousands of collectors move into alpine pastures in districts such as Dolpa, Darchula and Manang. Because the fungus is picked before it can release spores, over-collection and disputes over pasture access have raised serious sustainability and governance concerns, and Nepal has been developing tighter harvest rules.

Kutki is one of the Himalaya's classic bitter digestive and liver medicines. The Nepali material is usually Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora (closely related to the western Himalayan Picrorhiza kurrooa), family Plantaginaceae (formerly Scrophulariaceae). It is an alpine herb of roughly 3,500–4,800 m, and the bitter rhizome and roots are used for indigestion, fever and, notably, liver disorders, with well-studied hepatoprotective activity and traditional use in jaundice. Kutki has been a mainstay non-timber forest product of the Karnali region for generations and is listed on CITES Appendix II.

Jatamansi (spikenard) is Nardostachys jatamansi (syn. N. grandiflora), family Caprifoliaceae (formerly Valerianaceae), an alpine herb of about 3,000–5,000 m reported from some 26 mountain districts. Its aromatic rhizome, and the essential oil distilled from it, are prized as a nervine and sedative in Ayurveda and as a fragrance in cosmetics and perfumery. Heavy demand has made it one of Nepal's most exploited species: it was placed on CITES Appendix II in 1997 and assessed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN in 2015, so its trade runs under strict quotas and permits.

Satuwa, or herb Paris (Paris polyphylla, family Melanthiaceae), is a shade-loving forest herb of roughly 1,800–3,300 m whose thick rhizome is used as an anthelmintic and digestive and, in folk practice, as a paste to treat snakebite and insect stings, fever and wounds. Rising pharmaceutical demand has driven up its price sharply, prompting commercial cultivation in the eastern hills, but wild populations are assessed as vulnerable. A fourth threatened alpine species, Panch Aunle (Dactylorhiza hatagirea, family Orchidaceae, about 2,300–3,600 m), yields a hand-shaped tuber used as a restorative tonic; it is strictly protected under Nepali law and listed on CITES Appendix II.

Chiraito (Swertia chirayita, family Gentianaceae) is the classic bitter tonic of the mid-hills, growing at about 1,500–3,100 m across the temperate Himalaya. The whole dried plant is intensely bitter and is used traditionally for fever, loss of appetite, indigestion, intestinal worms and liver complaints, and it has documented antimalarial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activity in laboratory studies. Chiraito is one of the Government of Nepal's prioritised species and has ranked among the country's highest export-revenue-earning medicinal plants, which is why 'chiraito benefits' is such a common Nepali search.

Tulsi, or holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum, syn. O. sanctum, family Lamiaceae), is the household herb of the plains and hills, grown by countless Hindu families in a courtyard tulsi pot and treated as sacred to the goddess Tulasi. In Ayurveda it is nicknamed the 'Queen of Herbs': the aromatic leaves are taken as tea or juice for cough, cold, sore throat, fever and general immunity, and it is classed as an adaptogen. Common cultivated types in Nepal include Ram tulsi and the purplish Krishna tulsi.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera, family Solanaceae), also called Indian ginseng or Indian winter cherry, is a short woody shrub of the subtropical plains, river valleys and lower hills. Its taproot is the celebrated part, valued in Ayurveda as an adaptogen and rejuvenative (rasayana) for stress, fatigue, general debility and musculoskeletal weakness. The activity is attributed largely to steroidal lactones called withanolides, and unlike the wild alpine species above, ashwagandha is readily cultivated, which supports a growing supplement and export market.

Sunpati (Rhododendron anthopogon, family Ericaceae) is a low, strongly aromatic evergreen shrub of the alpine zone, roughly 3,000–4,800 m. Its leaves and flowers are burned as incense — often mixed with Himalayan juniper (dhupi, Juniperus indica) to purify monasteries and homes in Buddhist practice — and are taken as a warming tea by Himalayan healers to aid digestion, stimulate appetite and ease coughs, colds and sore throats. Steam distillation of the aerial parts yields anthopogon essential oil, marketed for aromatherapy and skincare.

Sunpati sits within a wider aromatic-plant (essential oil) sector that is one of the more promising avenues for adding value inside Nepal rather than exporting raw herbs. Alongside anthopogon and jatamansi oils, Nepal distils oils from species such as sugandhawal (Valeriana jatamansi), wintergreen (Gaultheria), lemongrass, palmarosa, citronella, chamomile and various mints. Because a small volume of oil can carry the value of a large volume of raw material, essential-oil processing is actively promoted as a way to raise rural incomes and reduce pressure on the most heavily harvested wild species.

Several of Nepal's flagship jadibuti are threatened by over-collection, and their trade is regulated at two levels. Internationally, Nepal is a party to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), and Himalayan medicinal species on Appendix II — which allows regulated, permit-based trade — include Jatamansi (Nardostachys), Kutki (Picrorhiza / Neopicrorhiza), Panch Aunle (Dactylorhiza hatagirea), all wild orchids, and the Himalayan yew (Taxus wallichiana). Jatamansi and kutki were added to Appendix II in 1997, requiring export permits backed by a non-detriment finding.

Domestically, the Forest Act, 2019 (2076 BS) and associated regulations govern collection, transport and trade. The Government of Nepal maintains lists of species that are banned outright for collection, felling, transport or export (historically including Panch Aunle and the Himalayan yew), and species whose export is prohibited in unprocessed (raw) form so that value is added inside the country — a group that has covered unprocessed Yarsagumba and shilajit among others. The government has also prioritised around 30 MAP species for economic development, identified about a dozen for cultivation and research, and set royalty rates for well over 200 collected species, administered through the Department of Forests and the Department of Plant Resources.

For students, collectors, traders and exporters, the practical takeaways are simple. First, confirm a species' current legal status before collecting or trading it, because protected and export-restricted lists change. Second, favour cultivated material and value-added products (dried, graded, distilled) over raw wild harvest, both to stay within the law and to earn more. Third, treat medicinal claims with care: many traditional uses are well documented, but they are not a substitute for professional medical advice, and several potent species can be toxic if misused.