Rauvolfia serpentina
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Species name: Rauwolfia serpentina
Rauvolfia serpentina or snakewood is a plant native to India. The genus is also called Rauwolfia, but the name Rauvolfia is the one accepted by the Species 2000 project, an official international species nomenclature agency. Rauvolfia serpentina is a popular folk medicine for diabetes and high blood pressure. It also has tranquilizing properties and is used as an antipsychotic drug, for curing schizophrenia and against snakebites.
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Angiosperm phylogeny. This image is copyrighted. Rights owned by Theodore C.H.Cole (Heidelberg) and Hartmut H. Hilger (Berlin) 2010. Please obtain copyright permissions before reuse.
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- Species identity and nomenclature
- Current Wikipedia entry
- Binomial Classification
- Morphological features
- Habitat and Geographical Spread
- Maps
- Medicinal Importance
- Cultural significance
- Commercial importance and cultivation
- Summary of PubMed articles
- Summary of NCBI molecular data
- External Links
- Images and Videos
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Names of users who have contributed to this species page | Gauravm, shwetankverma | |
| Date on which this page was first created | 2010/08/20 | |
| This page was last modified on: | 6 September 2010 15:38:40 | |
| Name of the species | Rauwolfia serpentina | |
| ID on Encyclopedia of Life | ||
| Synonyms | Please check Binomial Classification section for synonyms. | |
| Common English Names | Indian snakeroot, Serpentine wood | |
| Common Hindi Names | सर्पगंधा Sarpagandha | |
| Common Indian names | सर्पगंधा Sarpagandha,छोटा चँाद Chota-chand, चंदराभंगा chandrabhaga (Hindi); chundrika, sarpagandha (Sanskrit); സര്പ്പഗന്ധി (Malayalam) | Encyclopedia of Life |
| Origins/Meanings of the common names | The extract of the plant has also been used for millennia in India — Alexander the Great administered this plant to cure his general Ptolemy of a poisoned arrow. It was reported that Mahatma Gandhi took it as a tranquilizer during his lifetime. | Wikipedia |
Taxonomy from Encyclopedia of Life
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Taxonomy filled in form
Click here for the PDF of the phylogeny
| Taxon | Value |
|---|---|
| Regnum (Kingdom) | Plantae |
| Division | Magnoliophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Gentianales |
| Family | Apocynaceae |
| Genus | Rauvolfia |
| Source of data | ' |
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| Division | Taxon details | Taxon morphology details |
|---|---|---|
| Magnoliophyta | Also called Angiospermae. The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms around 245–202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants known to exist are from 140 million years ago. They diversified enormously during the Lower Cretaceous and became widespread around 100 million years ago, but replaced conifers as the dominant trees only around 60-100 million years ago. | These are seed plants like Gymnosperms, but can be differentiated by the presence of flowers, seeds containing endosperm and seeds that produce a fruit. Angiosperms are the most diverse and highly evolutionarily successful group of land plants. |
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| Class | Taxon details | Taxon morphology details |
|---|---|---|
| Magnoliopsida | Magnoliopsida is the scientific name for dicots. This class contains about ~1,99,350 species of Angiosperms. Eudicots are a subset of Dicots. Based on chloroplast DNA sequences, the divergence date between monocots and dicots is estimated to be ~200 million years, with a 40 million years uncertainty. | Dicots are diverse in habit, with half of all the species being more or less woody-stemmed - a reflection of the usual presence of a vascular cambium in the class. Annuals, biennials, vines, epiphytes, aquatics, parasites, and saprotrophs are also well represented in dicots. Vascular bundles of the stem are usually borne in a ring that encloses the pith. Vessel elements present except in some putatively primitive woody or aquatic families. Most dicots have a primary root system derived from the radicle, although some have an adventitious root system commonly seen in the class of monocots. Cotyledons are usually 2, seldom 1, 3, or 4. Leaves are mostly net-veined. |
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Based on classification
More details can be found in the Binomial Classification section.
Morphology from Encyclopedia of Life
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General morphology
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| General morphological features of the plant | A small shrub 50-60 cm high, branches simple and glabrous. Leaves whorled, usually 3, ovate-lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, 7-16 x 2.5-5 cm, acute or acuminate, entire, dark green above and pale green beneath, membranous, with 8-12 pairs of lateral nerves, petiole 5-15 mm long, with glands in the leaf axils. Inflorescence of terminal or axillary, many-flowered much branched cymes, peduncle 2.5-10 cm long, pedicel c. 5 mm long, red, bract minute, acute, triangular, bright red. Flowers pink, c. 1 cm across. Calyx c. 2.5 mm long, ovate or lanceolate, acute, equalling the tube. Corolla tube 8-12 mm long, inflated in the middle, throat hairy, lobes spreading, 4 mm long, overlapping to the left in bud, stamens inserted in the middle of the corolla. Disc conspicuous, cupshaped, style filiform, stigma capitate. Fruit c. 8 mm in diameter, 2 separate or in two lobes, red, ovoid, pointed, turning shining black when fully mature."A small shrub 50-60 cm high, branches simple and glabrous. Leaves whorled, usually 3, ovate-lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, 7-16 x 2.5-5 cm, acute or acuminate, entire, dark green above and pale green beneath, membranous, with 8-12 pairs of lateral nerves, petiole 5-15 mm long, with glands in the leaf axils. Inflorescence of terminal or axillary, many-flowered much branched cymes, peduncle 2.5-10 cm long, pedicel c. 5 mm long, red, bract minute, acute, triangular, bright red. Flowers pink, c. 1 cm across. Calyx c. 2.5 mm long, ovate or lanceolate, acute, equalling the tube. Corolla tube 8-12 mm long, inflated in the middle, throat hairy, lobes spreading, 4 mm long, overlapping to the left in bud, stamens inserted in the middle of the corolla. Disc conspicuous, cupshaped, style filiform, stigma capitate. Fruit c. 8 mm in diameter, 2 separate or in two lobes, red, ovoid, pointed, turning shining black when fully mature." cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. | Encylopedia of Life |
| Seed dispersal mechanism | Entomophily (By insects) | |
|---|---|---|
| Bloom type | Perennial | |
| Life cycle of the plant |
How to identify this species
For a detailed description, refer to the General Morphology details above
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Type of plant | Woody (Tree/Shrub) | |
| Plant height | Up to 3 feet | EoL |
| Flower color | Pink | Wikipedia, EoL |
| Flower shape | ||
| Floral symmetry | ||
| Phyllotaxy of leaves | ||
| Leaf shape | Ovate | |
| Is the leaf petiolated or sessile? | ||
| Is the leaf simple or compound? |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| IUCN Conservation Status | ||
| Indian States in which the species has been documented | Assam,Andaman and Nicobar Islands,Dadra and Nagar Haveli,Goa,Gujarat,Karnataka,Kerala,Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,Meghalaya,Punjab,Sikkim,Tamil Nadu,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal | |
| Locations at which the species has been documented | ||
| Biotic zones inhabited | Northeastern Himalayas, Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats, Central Deccan Plateau, Indo-Gangetic Plain, Outlying Islands | Based on Sasya Sampada |
| Details about the habitat | Forests, Evergreen and deciduous forests, slopes of ghats, open areas, undergrowth in semi-evergreen forests, cultivated fields and plains. | Sasya Sampada |
| Is this species native to India? | Yes | Wikipedia |
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Sub-Himalayan regions? | ||
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Western Ghats? | ||
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Eastern Ghats? |
More plants native to India
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If no maps are displayed below, it means the required data is absent. Click on "Edit with form" button on top of the page to add this information.
{{#generateMap:Assam,Andaman and Nicobar Islands,Dadra and Nagar Haveli,Goa,Gujarat,Karnataka,Kerala,Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,Meghalaya,Punjab,Sikkim,Tamil Nadu,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal|Rauwolfiaserpentina_brahma.svg|align=center}}
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Does this species have any medicinal use? | Yes |
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Other plants of the same family having medicinal use:
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| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| General types of ailments this species is used for treating | Infectious diseases, Systemic disorders | |
| Specific ailments for which the species is used | hypertension, antidote to the bites of poisonous reptiles like snakes, dysentery, cholera | |
| Medicinal systems which use this plant | Ayurveda, Folk Medicine | |
| Details of Medicinal use | ||
| Parts of the plant used for treatment | Root, Stem, Leaves | |
| Names of some medicinal active compounds in this plant, if known. | Ajmaline, Deserpidine, Rescinnamine, Serpentinine, Reserpine, Ajmalicine, Isoajmaline, Ajmalinine, Chandrine, Rauwolfinine, Renoxidine, Rescin-namine, Reserpiline, sarpagine, tetraphyllicine, yohimbine, 3-epi-a-yohimbine, Strychnine | Wikipedia, himalaya |
| Details of the active chemical compounds found in this plant | ||
| Is the molecular basis of the medicinal action known? | Yes | |
| Details of molecular basis of action | Reserpine is reported to influence the concentration of glycogen, acetyl choline, g-amino butyric acid, nucleic acids and anti-diuretic hormone in brain | Himalaya |
| Are the toxic effects of consumption of this plant known? | Yes | Hymalaya, drugs |
| Details of the toxic effects of the plant species | rauwolfia alkaloids are known to many of drugs like Brofaromine, Clorgyline, Furazolidone, Iproniazid, Isocarboxazid, Lazabemide, Linezolid, Moclobemide, Nialamide, Pargyline, Phenelzine, Procarbazine, Rasagiline, Selegiline, Tetrabenazine, Toloxatone, Tranylcypromine.
These alkaloids can have various effects on many other medical complications, so a strict medical supervision is advisable while taking rauwolfia alkaloids. Strychnine is known to be toxic at high concentrations |
Himalaya, drugs.com |
| Have there been validation/clinical studies related to this plant? | Yes | shwetank |
| Details of the clinical studies related to the plant species |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Is this plant/plant-derived product used in food preparations? | No | User-reported |
| Part(s) of the plant used in the food preparations | ||
| Details of use in food preparations | ||
| Does this species have any religious significance? | ||
| Religions which mention/give significance to this species | EoL | |
| Religious occasions | ||
| Details of religious use |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Is this plant cultivated commercially in India? | Yes | shwetank |
| Uses for which the plant is commercially cultivated | Medicinal use | |
| Plant parts of commercial value | Root, Stem | |
| Products where this plant is used | User-reported | |
| Description of use | ||
| States where this plant is cultivated commercially | ||
| Best period for planting this plant | ||
| Best period for harvesting this plant | ||
| Method of propagation | ||
| Water requirement of this plant | ||
| Pests and Diseases affecting this plant during cultivation | ||
| Other considerations while cultivating this plant |
Pubmed Word cloud
This word cloud is obtained using the tool LigerCat by searching the Pubmed database. LigerCat builds the cloud from the most relevant Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Each term's relative size indicates how many times it appears in the PubMed search results. Click on a term to access the full LigerCat cloud, with live PubMed search capabilities. LigerCat has been developed for the Biology of Aging Project.
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- If there is an error message below, it means that there is no retrievable information available on NCBI
- If the number of nucleotide sequences is less than 100, very little genomic work has been done on this species. A respectable number of nucleotide sequences is above 10000.
- Most of the nucleotide sequences may come from three sources:
- Studies on single genes, where people try to sequence genes such as some specific dehydrogenases important,say, for tannin production
- Sequences of Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer, whose sequence is used for generating molecular phylogenetic trees to establish species relationships
- Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) which can tell about which genes are present and expressed in the species at a particular time in the given tissue
{{#queryDB:taxonomy |Rauwolfia serpentina }}
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Details of modern scientific knowledge available for this species | The protein structure of enzyme Polyneuridine Aldehyde Esterase is available. This enzyme catalyzes a step involved in formation of alkaloid Sarapagan in Rauwolfia. This alkaloid has an action on the nervous system. Some steps in the synthesis of such Rauwolfia alkaloids have been studied in detail. Alkaloids like Sarpagan have also been shown to be produced by R. serpentina cell cultures. | NCBI Taxonomy, Cell culture |
| Are herbarium specimen available for this species? | ||
| Institutes having herbarium samples |
If nothing is displayed in this section, it means the EoL ID has not been defined. Please click on Edit with form button on top and follow the instructions for filling in the EoL ID
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References
Cell culture (Journal) : Stockigt et al ({{{year}}}),[Natural products and enzymes from plant cell cultures Natural products and enzymes from plant cell cultures], Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture:43(2):97. doi=10.1007/BF00052163
rauwolfia alkaloids ayurveda Drugs.com (Web): rauwolfia alkaloid, Accessdate=2010-Aug-21
Himalaya rauwolfia ayurveda (Web): Himalaya Herbal monograph: Rauwolfia serpentina, Accessdate=2010-Aug-21
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