''Rauvolfia'' (sometimes spelled ''Rauwolfia'') is a genus of

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s and

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s, commonly known as devil peppers, in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

. The genus is named to honor

Leonhard Rauwolf Leonhard Rauwolf (also spelled Leonhart Rauwolff) (21 June 1535 – 15 September 1596) was a German physician, botanist, and traveller. His main notability arises from a trip he made through the Levant and Mesopotamia in 1573–75. The motive of t ...

. The genus can mainly be found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

regions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, and various oceanic islands.

Spelling

The

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

stipulates that the genus name was established by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in his 1753 book ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

'', which cites his earlier description which states in

Botanical Latin Botanical Latin is a technical language based on Neo-Latin, used for descriptions of botanical taxa. From 1935 to 2011, the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature mandated Botanical Latin to be used for the descriptions of new taxa (other tha ...

that the name is dedicated "to Leonhard Rauwolf": "''Leon. Rauvolfio''". Although some subsequent authors hypercorrected the

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

letter "v" to a modern "w", this is not accepted by the code of nomenclature.

Chemical constituents

Rauvolfia serpentina ''Rauvolfia serpentina'', the Indian snakeroot, devil pepper, serpentine wood, Sarpagandha (as known locally) or Chandrika, is a species of flower in the milkweed family Apocynaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia (from Ind ...

'', commonly known as Indian snakeroot or ''sarpagandha'', contains many

indole alkaloid Indole alkaloids are a class of alkaloids containing a structural moiety of indole; many indole alkaloids also include isoprene groups and are thus called terpene indole or secologanin tryptamine alkaloids. Containing more than 4100 known differ ...

Medicinal uses

Reserpine Reserpine is a drug that is used for the treatment of hypertension, high blood pressure, usually in combination with a thiazide diuretic or vasodilator. Large clinical trials have shown that combined treatment with reserpine plus a thiazide diur ...

is an

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

first isolated from '' R. serpentina'' and was widely used as an

antihypertensive Antihypertensives are a class of drugs that are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). Antihypertensive therapy seeks to prevent the complications of high blood pressure, such as stroke, heart failure, kidney failure and myocardial infa ...

drug

Conservation

'' is declining in the wild due to collection for its medicinal uses. Consequently, it is listed in

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

Appendix II CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

. ''

Rauvolfia vomitoria ''Rauvolfia vomitoria'', the poison devil's-pepper, is a plant species in the genus ''Rauvolfia''. It is native from Senegal east to Sudan and Tanzania, south to Angola; and naturalized in China, Bangladesh, different ranges of Himalayan and Pue ...

'' is a highly invasive species in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, and is capable of establishing dense monotypic stands.

Species

Species include: ;formerly included # ''Rauvolfia celastrifolia'' Baker = ''

Stephanostegia hildebrandtii ''Stephanostegia'' is a genus of plant in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1888. The entire genus is endemic to Madagascar. ;Species * ''Stephanostegia capuronii ''Stephanostegia capuronii'' is a species of plant in the fam ...

'' Baill. # ''Rauvolfia dentata'' Tafalla ex D.Don = '' Citharexylum dentatum'' D.Don # ''Rauvolfia flexuosa'' Ruiz & Pav. = '' Citharexylum flexuosum'' (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don # ''Rauvolfia glabra'' Cav. = '' Vallesia glabra'' (Cav.) Link # ''Rauvolfia laevigata'' Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. = ''

Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia ''Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia'' is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonl ...

'' Jacq. # ''Rauvolfia longifolia'' A.DC. = '' Alstonia longifolia'' (A.DC.) Pichon # ''Rauvolfia macrophylla'' Ruiz & Pav. 1799 not Stapf 1894 = '' Citharexylum flexuosum'' (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don # ''Rauvolfia oppositifolia'' Spreng. 1822 not Sessé & Moc. 1888 = ''

Tabernaemontana oppositifolia ''Tabernaemontana oppositifolia'' is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geogra ...

'' (Spreng.) Urb. # ''Rauvolfia pubescens'' Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. = '' Citharexylum quitense'' Spreng. # ''Rauvolfia spinosa'' Cav. = '' Citharexylum flexuosum'' (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don # ''Rauvolfia stenophylla'' Donn.Sm. = '' Alstonia longifolia'' (A.DC.) Pichon # ''Rauvolfia strempelioides'' Griseb. = '' Strempeliopsis strempelioides'' (Griseb.) Benth. ex B.D.Jacks. # ''Rauvolfia striata'' Poir. = ''

Ochrosia borbonica ''Ochrosia borbonica'' is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to Mauritius and Réunion, and naturalized in Guangdong Province in China. The species is listed as endangered. References

Ochrosia, borbonica Endanger ...

'' J.F.Gmel.

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Medicinal plants Apocynaceae genera