Rauvolfia


Rauvolfia is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs, commonly known as devil peppers, in the family Apocynaceae. The genus is named to honor Leonhard Rauwolf. The genus can mainly be found in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and various oceanic islands.

Spelling

The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants stipulates that the genus name was established by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 book Species Plantarum, which cites his earlier description
which states in Botanical Latin that the name is dedicated "to Leonhard Rauwolf": "Leon. Rauvolfio". Although some subsequent authors hypercorrected the Classical Latin letter "v" to a modern "w", this is not accepted by the code of nomenclature.

Chemical constituents

Rauvolfia serpentina, commonly known as or Indian snakeroot or sarpagandha, contains many indole alkaloids.

Medicinal uses

is an alkaloid first isolated from R. serpentina and was widely used as an antihypertensive drug

Conservation

Rauvolfia serpentina is declining in the wild due to collection for its medicinal uses. Consequently, it is listed in CITES Appendix II. Rauvolfia vomitoria is a highly invasive species in Hawaii, and is capable of establishing dense monotypic stands.

Species

Species include:
;formerly included
  1. Rauvolfia celastrifolia Baker = Stephanostegia hildebrandtii Baill.
  2. Rauvolfia dentata Tafalla ex D.Don = Citharexylum dentatum D.Don
  3. Rauvolfia flexuosa Ruiz & Pav. = Citharexylum flexuosum D.Don
  4. Rauvolfia glabra Cav. = Vallesia glabra Link
  5. Rauvolfia laevigata Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. = Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia Jacq.
  6. Rauvolfia longifolia A.DC. = Alstonia longifolia Pichon
  7. Rauvolfia macrophylla Ruiz & Pav. 1799 not Stapf 1894 = Citharexylum flexuosum D.Don
  8. Rauvolfia oppositifolia Spreng. 1822 not Sessé & Moc. 1888 = Tabernaemontana oppositifolia Urb.
  9. Rauvolfia pubescens Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. = Citharexylum quitense Spreng.
  10. Rauvolfia spinosa Cav. = Citharexylum flexuosum D.Don
  11. Rauvolfia stenophylla Donn.Sm. = Alstonia longifolia Pichon
  12. Rauvolfia strempelioides Griseb. = Strempeliopsis strempelioides Benth. ex B.D.Jacks.
  13. Rauvolfia striata Poir. = Ochrosia borbonica J.F.Gmel.