Indian Society for Spices Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops Vol. 32 (1): 01-13 (2023) 10.25081/josac.2023.v32.i1.8204 Diversity and distribution of vetiver grass (Chrysopogan zizanioides (L) Roberty) and its manifold uses: A review Ankit Pandey * & S C Tiwari * Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Environmental Sciences Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. * Email: sct_in@yahoo.com Received 18 January 2023; Revised 14 June 2023; Accepted 17 June 2023. Abstract During the last few decades essential oils derived from different herbs and aromatic plants have received a growing focus of scientific investigation due to their multifunctional uses beyond their traditional roles as food additives and scents. Over 3000 species have been identified as medicinal plants that produce essential oils. Vetiver grass has wide range of diversity throughout the world with diverse genotype variability. It has multifarious uses in various agricultural, medicinal, aromatic, engineering, conservational and in industrial sectors. The C. zizanioides is well known in various regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Africa. Vetiver roots, particularly those from Karnataka, have been utilised to make herbal drinks that are energising to combat tiredness. The vetiver grass, referred as "vetiver" or "vetiver–vetiver" in India, serves a variety of purposes in aromatic, pharmaceuticals, food, and beverage industries. This paper presents a review of the diversity and distribution of this crop along with its various uses and applications. Keywords: aromatic, diversity, uses, distribution, vetiver. Introduction Vetiver (Vetiver zizanioides (L.) Nash, syn. Chrysopogan zizanioides (L.) Roberty is an important perennial aromatic grass that belongs to the Poaceae/ Gramineae family. The plant is well known for its medicinal property, perfumery, and flavour values. Vetiver was originated from India and is cultivated throughout tropical countries. Roots and essentials oil of vetiver have high industrial demand mainly due to their fixative properties. The cultivation of aromatic plants, particularly essential oil yielding plants such as vetiver grass, lemon grass, patchouli, mint, etc. is enhancing the scope of agriculture (Shabbir et al., 2019). Among the various horticultural crops, medicinal and aromatic plants play a significant role in continuous supply of raw material to pharmaceutical, perfumery as well as for cosmetics industries in India (Raviprasad & Venugopal 2017). Among the thousands of aromatic plants, only a few are grown as commercial crops widely, vetiver is one of them (Raviprasad et al., 2019). The lower hills and