Rauvolfia

Rauvolfia (sometimes spelled Rauwolfia) 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.^[3][4]

Rauvolfia
Rauvolfia sandwicensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Subfamily:	Rauvolfioideae
Tribe:	Vinceae
Subtribe:	Rauvolfiinae Benth. & Hook.f.
Genus:	Rauvolfia L.[1]
Type species
Rauvolfia tetraphylla L., 1753[2]
Synonyms[3]
Cyrtosiphonia Miq. Dissolena Lour. Heurckia Müll.Arg. Ophioxylon L. Podochrosia Baill.

Rauvolfia serpentina fruit

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,^[5][6] which cites his earlier description^[7] 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.^[8]

Chemical constituents

Rauvolfia serpentina, commonly known as Indian snakeroot or sarpagandha, contains many indole alkaloids.^[9]

Medicinal uses

Reserpine is an alkaloid first isolated from R. serpentina and was widely used as an antihypertensive drug^[10]

Conservation

Rauvolfia serpentina is declining in the wild due to collection for its medicinal uses.^[11] Consequently, it is listed in CITES Appendix II.^[12] Rauvolfia vomitoria is a highly invasive species in Hawaiʻi, and is capable of establishing dense monotypic stands.

Species

Species include:^[3]

1. Rauvolfia afra Sond., 1850 - Africa from Togo east to Tanzania, south to Cape Province
2. Rauvolfia amsoniifolia A.DC. - Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku, Lesser Sunda Islands
3. Rauvolfia andina Markgr. - Peru
4. Rauvolfia anomala Rapini & I.Koch - Mato Grosso
5. Rauvolfia aphlebia (Standl.) A.H.Gentry - Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
6. Rauvolfia bahiensis A.DC. - E Brazil
7. Rauvolfia balansae (Baill.) Boiteau - New Caledonia
8. Rauvolfia biauriculata Müll.Arg. - Cuba, Haiti, Lesser Antilles, Trinidad & Tobago
9. Rauvolfia capixabae I.Koch & Kin.-Gouv - Bahia + Espírito Santo in Brazil
10. Rauvolfia capuronii Markgr. - Madagascar
11. Rauvolfia chaudocensis Pierre ex Pit. - S Vietnam
12. Rauvolfia cubana A.DC. - Cuba; naturalized in Yunnan
13. Rauvolfia decurva Hook.f. - India
14. Rauvolfia dichotoma K.Schum. - São Tomé
15. Rauvolfia gracilis I.Koch & Kin.-Gouv. - Rondônia, Mato Grosso
16. Rauvolfia grandiflora Mart. ex A.DC. - E Brazil
17. Rauvolfia hookeri S.R.Sriniv. & Chithra - S India
18. Rauvolfia indosinensis Pichon - Cambodia, S Vietnam
19. Rauvolfia insularis Markgr. - Palau
20. Rauvolfia × ivanovii Granda & V.R.Fuentes - Cuba (R. ligustrina × R. viridis)
21. Rauvolfia javanica Koord. & Valeton - Java, Sumatra, Lesser Sunda Islands
22. Rauvolfia kamarora Hendrian - Sulawesi
23. Rauvolfia leptophylla A.S.Rao - Colombia, Venezuela
24. Rauvolfia letouzeyi Leeuwenb. - Gabon, Republic of Congo
25. Rauvolfia ligustrina Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. - from Mexico + Cuba south to Paraguay + NE Argentina
26. Rauvolfia linearifolia Britton & P.Wilson - E Cuba
27. Rauvolfia littoralis Rusby - Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador
28. Rauvolfia macrantha K.Schum. ex Markgr. - Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, N Brazil, Peru
29. Rauvolfia mannii Stapf, 1894 - tropical Africa from Ivory Coast to Tanzania, south to Malawi
30. Rauvolfia mattfeldiana Markgr. - Brazil
31. Rauvolfia maxima Markgr. - Venezuela
32. Rauvolfia media Pichon, 1947 - Comoros, Madagascar
33. Rauvolfia micrantha Hook.f., 1882 - SW India, S Thailand, Vietnam
34. Rauvolfia microcarpa Hook.f. - Myanmar
35. Rauvolfia moluccana Markgr. - Maluku, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago
36. Rauvolfia mombasiana Stapf - Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique
37. Rauvolfia moricandii A.DC. - E Brazil
38. Rauvolfia nana E.A.Bruce - E Angola, Zambia, S Zaïre
39. Rauvolfia nitida Jacq. - West Indies, Panama, S Mexico
40. †Rauvolfia nukuhivensis (Fosberg & Sachet) Lorence & Butaud - French Polynesia but extinct
41. Rauvolfia obtusiflora A.DC. - Madagascar
42. Rauvolfia oligantha Hendrian - C Java
43. Rauvolfia pachyphylla Markgr. - Venezuela, Guyana
44. Rauvolfia paraensis Ducke - N Brazil, Peru, Suriname, French Guiana
45. Rauvolfia paucifolia A.DC. - E Brazil
46. Rauvolfia peguana Hook.f. - Myanmar
47. Rauvolfia pentaphylla Ducke - N Brazil, Peru
48. Rauvolfia polyphylla Benth. - S Venezuela, N Brazil
49. Rauvolfia praecox K.Schum. ex Markgr. - W Brazil, Peru, Bolivia
50. Rauvolfia pruinosifolia I.Koch & Kin.-Gouv. - Minas Gerais
51. Rauvolfia purpurascens Standl. - Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador
52. Rauvolfia rhonhofiae Markgr. - Ecuador
53. Rauvolfia rivularis Merr. - Myanmar
54. Rauvolfia rostrata Markgr. - Maluku, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago
55. Rauvolfia sachetiae Fosberg, 1981 - Marquesas in French Polynesia
56. Rauvolfia salicifolia Griseb. - Cuba
57. Rauvolfia sanctorum Woodson - Colombia, Peru
58. Rauvolfia sandwicensis A.DC., 1844 - Hawaiian Islands (Hawaiʻi)^[13]
59. Rauvolfia schuelii Speg. - Bolivia, NW Argentina
60. Rauvolfia sellowii Müll.Arg. - Brazil, Paraguay, Misiones Province of Argentina
61. Rauvolfia semperflorens (Müll.Arg.) Schltr. - New Caledonia
62. Rauvolfia serpentina (L.) Benth. ex Kurz, 1877 - Indian Subcontinent, China, Southeast Asia
63. Rauvolfia sevenetii Boiteau - New Caledonia
64. Rauvolfia spathulata Boiteau - New Caledonia
65. Rauvolfia sprucei Müll.Arg. - S Venezuela, Peru, N Brazil
66. Rauvolfia steyermarkii Woodson - Táchira in Venezuela
67. Rauvolfia sumatrana Jack, 1820 - Guangdong, Thailand, Myanmar, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines
68. Rauvolfia tetraphylla L., 1753 - Also called Rauwolfia carescens; from Mexico and West Indies to Peru; naturalized in China, Indian Subcontinent, Andaman Islands, Vietnam, Queensland
69. Rauvolfia tiaolushanensis Tsiang - Hainan in S China
70. Rauvolfia verticillata (Lour.) Baill., 1895 - China, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines
71. Rauvolfia vietnamensis Lý - Vietnam
72. Rauvolfia viridis Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. - West Indies, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela
73. Rauvolfia volkensii (K.Schum.) Stapf - Tanzania
74. Rauvolfia vomitoria Afzel., 1817 - tropical Africa from Senegal east to Sudan + Tanzania, south to Angola; naturalized in China, Bangladesh, Puerto Rico
75. Rauvolfia weddeliana Müll.Arg. - Brazil, Paraguay
76. Rauvolfia woodsoniana Standl. - Costa Rica

formerly included^[3]

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 (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don
4. Rauvolfia glabra Cav. = Vallesia glabra (Cav.) Link
5. Rauvolfia laevigata Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. = Tabernaemontana amygdalifolia Jacq.
6. Rauvolfia longifolia A.DC. = Alstonia longifolia (A.DC.) Pichon
7. Rauvolfia macrophylla Ruiz & Pav. 1799 not Stapf 1894 = Citharexylum flexuosum (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don
8. Rauvolfia oppositifolia Spreng. 1822 not Sessé & Moc. 1888 = Tabernaemontana oppositifolia (Spreng.) Urb.
9. Rauvolfia pubescens Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. = Citharexylum quitense Spreng.
10. Rauvolfia spinosa Cav. = Citharexylum flexuosum (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don
11. Rauvolfia stenophylla Donn.Sm. = Alstonia longifolia (A.DC.) Pichon
12. Rauvolfia strempelioides Griseb. = Strempeliopsis strempelioides (Griseb.) Benth. ex B.D.Jacks.
13. Rauvolfia striata Poir. = Ochrosia borbonica J.F.Gmel.

References

1. "Rauvolfia L." Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2003-03-14. Archived from the original on 2009-09-12. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
2. "Rauvolfia L." TROPICOS. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
3. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families". Retrieved May 18, 2014.
4. Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 157 萝芙木属 luo fu mu shu Rauvolfia Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 208. 1753.
5. (McNeill et al. 2012, Article 38.1)
6. Linnaeus, C. (1753), "Rauvolfia tetraphylla", Species plantarum: exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas, vol. 1, Stockholm: Lars Salvius, p. 208
7. Linnaeus, C. (1737), "Rauvolfia g. pl. 179", Hortus Cliffortianus, Amsterdam, p. 75
8. (McNeill et al. 2012, Articles 60 and 61, particularly 60.1)
9. SerpentinaDB
10. Lobay D (2016). "Rauwolfia in the Treatment of Hypertension". Integr Med (Encinitas). 14 (3): 40–46. PMC 4566472. PMID 26770146.
11. "India's wild medicinal plants threatened by over-exploitation". International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
12. "Appendices I, II and III" (PDF). Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species. 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
13. Little Jr., Elbert L.; Roger G. Skolmen (1989). "Hao" (PDF). United States Forest Service.^{[permanent dead link]}

Bibliography

• McNeill, J.; Barrie, F.R.; Buck, W.R.; Demoulin, V.; Greuter, W.; Hawksworth, D.L.; Herendeen, P.S.; Knapp, S.; Marhold, K.; Prado, J.; Prud'homme Van Reine, W.F.; Smith, G.F.; Wiersema, J.H.; Turland, N.J. (2012). International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011. Vol. Regnum Vegetabile 154. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG. ISBN 978-3-87429-425-6.