What is the Qist (Costus)? Qist, Costus, or Costus Arabicus is a herbal plant that grows in the high valleys of Kashmir and India. It has many names in other languages, including "kuṣṭha" in Sanskrit; "kust" or "qust" in Arabic and Persian; "kut", "kur" and "pachak" in Hindi and Bengali, "kostum", "gostham" and "potchuk" in Tamil. "Upaleta" and "kur" in Gujarati; "kot" or "kust" in Punjabi; "changala" in Telugu; "sepuddy" in Malayalam; "kostha" in Kannada; "kuth" or "postkhai" in Kashmiri; and "kosht" (קשט) in Hebrew; "koto" in Swahili. Costus has a bitter smell in a yellow or light brown color. The Qist or Costus typical growth of 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) tall by 1 m (3.3 ft) wide. It has long lyrate leaves and heads of purple florets. The leaves take the shape of being auricled at the base, with jagged, toothed patterns running down the sides of the leaves, and are an average of 0.50–1.25 m (1.6–4.1 ft) long.
