An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture

 Vetiveria zizanioides (Poaceae)

Download a full report in PDF format
Common name(s)
Vetivert; Herb Vetivert; Vetiver; Swarankusa; Chiendent Odorant; Usheera; Akar Wangi; Larasetu; Sevya; Arabischer Kostus; Nara wastu; Vala; Khas Khas; Pachuli; Cus Cus

Data Views

List of Ethnobotany Plant
Click on column headings to sort table by that column
Uses Country/Region Reference
Antidote(Scorpion)(Veterinary) India(Santal) *
Bite(Snake)(Veterinary) India(Santal) *
Boil(Veterinary) India(Santal) *
Burn(Veterinary) India(Santal) *
Carminative(Veterinary) Egypt Tackholm, Vivi and Gunnar. 1973 (reprint). Flora of Egypt. Vol. 1-4. Originally published in Foriad I Univ. Bulletin of the Faculty of Science, vol. 17, Cairo, 1941.
Carminative(Veterinary) Elsewhere *
Colic(Veterinary) Elsewhere *
Cosmetic Java *
Cosmetic(Veterinary) Asia Uphof, J.C. Th. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants. 2nd ed. Verlag von J. Cramer.
Detersive(Veterinary) Dominican Republic Liogier, Alain Henri. 1974. Diccionario Botanico de Nombres Vulgares de la Espanola. Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena, Santo Domingo.
Diaphoretic(Veterinary) Egypt Tackholm, Vivi and Gunnar. 1973 (reprint). Flora of Egypt. Vol. 1-4. Originally published in Foriad I Univ. Bulletin of the Faculty of Science, vol. 17, Cairo, 1941.
Diaphoretic(Veterinary) Elsewhere *
Diuretic(Veterinary) Elsewhere *
Diuretic(Veterinary) English Steinmetz, E.F. 1957. codex Vegetabilis. Published by the author, Amsterdam.
Emmenagogue(Veterinary) German Steinmetz, E.F. 1957. codex Vegetabilis. Published by the author, Amsterdam.
Emmenagogue(Veterinary) Haiti Liogier, Alain Henri. 1974. Diccionario Botanico de Nombres Vulgares de la Espanola. Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena, Santo Domingo.
Epilepsy(Veterinary) India(Santal) *
Excitant(Veterinary) Egypt Tackholm, Vivi and Gunnar. 1973 (reprint). Flora of Egypt. Vol. 1-4. Originally published in Foriad I Univ. Bulletin of the Faculty of Science, vol. 17, Cairo, 1941.
Expectorant(Veterinary) Elsewhere *
Expectorant(Veterinary) Trinidad Wong, W. 1976. Some folk medicinal plants from Trinidad. Economic Botany 30(2): 103-142.
Show all rows.
*Unless otherwise noted all references are to Duke, James A. 1992. Handbook of phytochemical constituents of GRAS herbs and other economic plants. Boca Raton, FL. CRC Press.