Rauvolfia serpentina

Rauvolfia serpentina
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Rauvolfia
Species:
R. serpentina
Binomial name
Rauvolfia serpentina
Synonyms[3]
  • Ophioxylon album Gaertn.
  • Ophioxylon obversum Miq.
  • Ophioxylon salutiferum Salisb.
  • Ophioxylon serpentinum L.
  • Ophioxylon trifoliatum Gaertn.
  • Rauvolfia obversa (Miq.) Baill.
  • Rauvolfia trifoliata (Gaertn.) Baill.

Rauvolfia serpentina, the Indian snakeroot, devil pepper, serpentine wood, Sarpagandha (as known locally) or Chandrika,[4] is a species of flower in the milkweed family Apocynaceae.[5] It is native to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia (from India to Indonesia).[6][7]

Rauvolfia is a perennial undershrub widely distributed in India in the sub-Himalayan regions up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).

Sarpagandha is used in folk medicine in India for centuries to treat a wide variety of maladies, including snake and insect bites, febrile conditions, malaria, abdominal pain, and dysentery. It was also used as a uterine stimulant, febrifuge, and cure for insanity. The plant was mentioned in Hindu manuscripts as long ago as 1000 BCE.[8]

  1. ^ "Appendices". Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
  2. ^ "Rauvolfia serpentina". US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 1992-2016. Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  3. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK and Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  4. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "​Rauvolfia serpentina​". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Rauwolfia serpentina root". DrugBank, Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  6. ^ eFloras. "Rauvolfia serpentina". Flora of China. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  7. ^ Oudhia, P. and Tripathi, R.S. (2002). Identification, cultivation and export of important medicinal plants. In Proc. National Seminar on Horticulture Development in Chhattisgarh: Vision and Vistas. Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur (India) 21-23 Jan. 2002:78-85.
  8. ^ Douglas Lobay. "Rauwolfia in the Treatment of Hypertension".