Witnessed by: Unani
Sweet costus (Saussurea hypoleuca), of the Asteraceae family. Stout Himalayan perennial of the daisy kind with a thick aromatic taproot, the leaf-undersides white-felted (hypoleuca — white beneath); native range: the western Himalaya and Kashmir, on high open slopes; traded down through the Punjab into the Unani market. Globally recognized as qust in Arabic, qust shireen in Persian, qust shireen in Urdu, and sweet costus, white costus in English. The part used is root. A thick, pale, aromatic root, strongly and persistently scented, the taste sweetish and warm.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
SWEET COSTUS
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- sweet costus
- Scientific name
- Saussurea hypoleuca Spreng. ex DC.
- Family
- Asteraceae
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Unani
- aromatic · sweet (shireen, the sweet kind as against the bitter qust talkh)
Temperature
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- stomach · lungs · uterus · nerves
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Unani
- mohallil-e-waram (resolvent of swellings), kasir-e-riyah (carminative), muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic), mudirr-e-baul wa haiz (diuretic and emmenagogue), qatil-e-deedan (anthelmintic), jali (detergent), daf-e-taffun (antiseptic), muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- hot temperaments and hot conditions; pregnancy, for its emmenagogue reach
- Toxicity
- the heating root may irritate a hot stomach; low toxicity at customary dose
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