Picrorhiza
(from pikros, bitter, and rhiza, a root; in allusion to the bitterness of the root). ORD. Scrophularineae. A monotypic genus, the species being a hardy, perennial, glabrous or pilose herb, the thick root of which is used in native Hindoo medicine. For culture, see Wulfenia. P. Kurrooa (Kurroo, native name). fl. white or pale blue, disposed in clustered, terminal spikes, sessile in the axils of the bracts; calyx five-parted, the segments loosely imbricated; corolla shorter than the calyx, with four broad, entire, erectopatent lobes; peduncles scape-like, many-flowered, 4in. to 6in. high. August. Capsule nearly 1/2in. long, acuminate. l. subradical, oblong, crenate-serrate, 3in. to 4in. long, slightly wrinkled, entire at base, and gradually narrowed into a short petiole. Stem short. Himalayas, 1879.