The fragrant oil of an Indian plant, Nardostachys jatamansi, which grows with a 'spike.' The Arabic, name sunbul hindi, Indian spike, preserves the same idea. The perfume when pure was very valuable (Joh 12:3).
About the meaning of the Gr. epithet pistik
And [while] he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, [as] he was reclining for a meal, a woman came holding an alabaster flask of very costly perfumed oil of genuine nard. [After] breaking the alabaster flask, she poured [it] out on his head.
Then Mary took a pound of ointment of very valuable genuine nard [and] anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.