# Ashva, horse. Gandha, smell. The plant may take its name from the scent of its dried root — a nightshade the field may know as Withania somnifera.

The name ashwagandha may join two Sanskrit words — *ashva*, horse, and *gandha*, smell — a reference to the earthy scent the plant's dried root may carry. Beneath the name may sit a single botanical: a small, branching shrub of the nightshade family, catalogued by botany as **Withania somnifera**. It may also be known as Indian ginseng, and as winter cherry, after the small red berry the plant may set.

# The name it carries

The common name may be a clue to the thing that first drew notice. "Ashwagandha" may join the Sanskrit *ashva*, horse, and *gandha*, smell — a reference to the distinctive, earthy scent of its dried root. The plant may have been catalogued for centuries in the traditional texts of the Indian subcontinent, where it may be counted among the long-recorded botanicals.

# The plant itself

To botany, ashwagandha may be **Withania somnifera** — a low, branching shrub of the nightshade family, **Solanaceae**. It may grow across dry regions of India and neighboring lands. It may carry other names too: Indian ginseng, and winter cherry, after the small red berry the plant may set. It may be chiefly the root that is gathered and dried — pale, fibrous, and carrying the scent from which the plant may take its name.

# The forms it may take

Beyond the whole dried root, ashwagandha may appear in a handful of prepared forms — each a different way of handling the same plant.

**Whole root powder** — the dried root of Withania somnifera, milled to a pale, fine, earthy-scented powder. The most traditional preparation of the plant.

**Root extract** — a concentrated preparation drawn from the root, appearing as a more concentrated powder or liquid, carrying a higher share of the plant's native compounds.

**Withanolide-standardized extract** — an extract measured to a set share of withanolides. The form the research conversation may most often describe.

**Withanolides** — a class of naturally occurring steroidal lactones, the characteristic constituents of the plant, and the compounds by which extracts may be measured.

# A much-studied botanical

Ashwagandha — named from the Sanskrit for the smell of a horse, placed within the nightshade family, and characterized by its withanolide-bearing root — may have been examined widely across the research conversation. Much of that discussion may remain open rather than settled.

→ [The full story of ashwagandha — the plant, its name, and the root beneath it](https://www.codeage.com/blogs/education/the-scent-of-the-horse-ashwagandha-and-the-root-beneath-the-name)

*Studies referenced were conducted independently and did not involve any specific Codeage product or formula.* *No claims are made about any specific product or formula.*

**Ashwagandha may be one of many botanicals whose common name records a sensory detail — here, the scent of a root — rather than a use.** 

Ashva, horse. Gandha, smell. A plant named for the scent of its root — the nightshade the field may know as Withania somnifera.