Family

Caprifoliaceae

Genus

Nardostachys 

Common Name

Gan Song

Plant Figure

Description

Nardostachys jatamansi is a flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas. It is a source of a type of intensely aromatic amber-colored essential oil, spikenard. The oil has, since ancient times, been used as a perfume, as a medicine and in religious contexts. N. jatamansi of family Caprifoliaceae is an important but critically endangered medicinal herb inhabiting specific ecological niches of mostly inaccessible locales of alpine and sub-alpine Himalayas (2200 to over 4800 m amsl at 40–70° incline).